You’ll often hear about financial advisers, financial planners, and wealth managers. While the terms can overlap and there’s no strict definition, generally: - A wealth manager often emphasises the investment management side of things, the actual ‘looking after’ of your investment portfolio. - A financial planner tends to focus more on your overall financial and life goals, helping you create a plan to achieve them. - financial adviser is a more general term that can apply to both services. For those with more significant wealth, larger wealth management firms might offer managed services. If your wealth is substantial, you might even get bespoke, tailored portfolios, depending on the manager’s expertise.

The point of a wealth manager is to take ownership of structuring your wealth in line with your needs, or ‘looking after’ you and your investment for you. This “looking after” includes various services, but generally, these tend to be: * Understanding your financial needs and how much risk you can handle when investing * Choosing investments that will meet your needs while staying within the agreed risk limits * Taking care of the paperwork and taxes that come with building, using, or protecting your wealth Your wealth manager should, therefore, be able to give you advice on how to reflect your values and impact goals across your wealth. Note, however, it is not mandatory, and expertise in sustainable investing varies widely across the industry. Remember, it’s your money, and you have the right to understand how it’s being used and the impact it’s having.

Traditional wealth management has historically focused primarily on maximising financial returns. However, it’s increasingly common for Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) factors to be incorporated into investment decisions as a way to identify risks and opportunities that could impact those returns. This doesn’t automatically mean harmful investments are excluded or more sustainable ones are favoured; it’s more about understanding potential financial implications. Keep in mind that the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) regulates these activities to protect investors. They’re also working on regulations like the Sustainability Disclosure Requirements (SDR) to bring more clarity to sustainable investing options, although these are still evolving.

Strategies in traditional wealth management usually focus on planning through risk, return, and tax efficiency, and with a green or ethical lens applied to your investments, you can add a fourth aim of sustainability to your values-led portfolio. Broadly speaking, this aim is measured by excluding negative investments or finding positive investments: screening out; positive focus; ESG integration; and thematic investing.

No matter which financial vehicles you deploy, your engagement with your financial services can make a big impact. This is where your human capital comes into your investment strategy: * Take the time to engage with your bank, pension provider, employer, and financial advisers to learn more about their sustainability practices and your choices. * Use your voice to ask for better choices. * Vote! Shareholders have a commanding tool for creating change at their disposal when participating in Annual Shareholder Meetings. * Tell others what you discover: both good and bad actions of companies can be highlighted on social media. These are actions everyone can do, regardless of the amount of money in their pockets.

While the impact you can have with your investments is important, there is also an impact to be found in the influence you have with your adviser. You may find that the knowledge, encouragement, enthusiasm, and ideas that you bring to the table are passed on, like pollen between flowers, to other workers and clients of the firm. What advisers are duty-bound to do, however, is carefully research the products and solutions that they offer. They also need to be transparent and clear about the opportunities and limitations that these may have in delivering on your financial goals, your values, and any specific impact you want to aim for.