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A group of financial planners from across the nation has come together to push the ethical investing agenda under the banner of a planner co-operative.
Although the Ethical Adviser Co-op has existed in theory for approximately two years, a concerted effort to formalise the network has been underway for the past six months, according to Tas Ethical senior adviser and co-op director Stuart Barry.
The group is in talks with Australian Ethical Superannuation as a starting point to forming a national network of planner groups that offer the same kinds of specialised advice to national employer groups, Barry said.
"They're (Australian Ethical) the default fund for national employers — it might be non-government organisations or it might just be for-profit companies – (but) we're exploring opportunities to both service the corporates at the head office and also service their employees with a standardised service and pricing model nationally," he said.
Australian Ethical Superannuation general manager, business development Adam Kirk said the fund would introduce a limited advice service through Russell Investments (now a joint operation with Australian Administration Services) in May, but holistic advice was referred to the co-op.
He said he was working on a service proposition for the group that included investment briefings and a referral program.
Barry said the co-op was also assessing the viability of combining marketing efforts to drive referrals throughout the business and of sharing the cost of research and other tools.
He said the planners in the group were involved in regular conference calls with fund managers that worked in the ethical investment space to discuss product innovation and other concerns.
The group's aim to influence product innovation in the ethical investing space was somewhat obviated by The Emerald Group's Emerald Wrap platform launched in 2011, according to Ethinvest managing director Trevor Thomas.
Thomas said the group was formed in response to the Responsible Investment Association of Australia's (RIAA) expansion beyond an adviser-specific mandate.
The co-op was an extension of RIAA's work, Thomas said, and he could foresee a future where the two worked in conjunction.
"It wouldn't surprise me if somewhere down the track the co-op was a subsection of RIAA – there's no ill will, it's just that the advisers have gotten together partly because the structure does allow for some buying power," he said.
Tas Ethical saw a constant stream of clients with existing advisory relationships where the adviser had not properly serviced the client's ethical concerns, Barry said.
"The big wins, rather than reducing a few costs, are about communication and working together.
"If we can grow the awareness of the ethical space among the whole advisory community, we see that as not subtracting from our business but growing the pie and servicing the clients better, which is great for our profession as a whole," he said.
The co-op is a mixture of aligned and independent financial planners which includes Ethical Investment Services, Ethical Investment Advisers, AJ Financial Planning, Meridian Wealth Management and JustInvest Financial Planning. All advisers are RIA certified.
