One of the most significant developments in the UK this year was the election of the first Labour government in 14 years. Sir Kier Starmer became our Prime Minister in July, taking over control from Rishi Sunak and the Conservatives. It has arguably been a rocky start for the incoming party, but they have made commitments to create a nationalised energy company called Great British Energy, nationalise the railways to improve their service and improve workers’ rights.  

The new Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, set out the first budget of the Labour government in October. We shared our thoughts on what that could mean for your finances here. 

After much hype and speculation, the USA went to the polls in November and elected Donald Trump as their new president. Our client survey highlighted that a second Trump presidency was of great concern. Some of the issues highlighted included; Mr. Trump’s volatile and unpredictable nature, the potential that he will exacerbate global instability and that he has no concern for climate related issues. It is yet to be determined how the second Trump term will turn out, but we will make sure to report back on any important issues that could affect your finances. 

Sustainable Ethical investing continues to gain momentum in the UK, with new funds and products catering to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria. However, the regulator, the FCA, has expressed concerns about some of the claims made and has taken steps to improve information for investors. In 2024 we saw two main planks of this policy introduced. Firstly, in May, we saw the introduction of ‘Anti-Greenwashing’ rules; controlling terminology and claims made in published communications in the financial services sector. Secondly, we saw the launch of the sustainable investment product labelling under the Sustainable Disclosure Requirements (SDR). This is intended to improve transparency, making it easier to identify genuinely sustainable options. It's fair to say that SDR labelling has got off to a slower start than expected, with the regulator applying stricter controls than expected. However, we are starting to see a steady flow of label approvals and it will be interesting to see how this initiative develops and impacts on consumer choice. For UK investors, it should mean greater opportunities to invest in line with their values while pursuing competitive returns. 

We had another COP 29 – this time held in an oil state whose leaders announced oil reserves to be “God's gift” to his nation. An inauspicious start for a forum whose validity is coming into question. There is ongoing debate in the investment community about the need to bring ‘laggard firms’ along as improvers in the process to decarbonise. The same could be said for laggard states – that it's better to have them in the room rather than not there at all. However, there was some concern over backsliding on previous commitments to limit the development of fossil fuels. One small positive, though deemed not enough, was an agreement to reparations for smaller nations.  

Looking at these headlines it can be a source of despair for those committed to sustainability. However, the positive side is that increasingly many countries and businesses are seeing sustainability as the logical way forward and that there are now clear economic and business cases for that to remain so. Once Trump realises that many of his voters have benefitted from green jobs deals in their states, perhaps he may reign in some of his rhetoric. 

Conflict continues to be a global issue, not just in Ukraine or Gaza but in less high-profile areas such as Sudan too. In addition to human suffering, these conflicts add to a lack of stability which ultimately affects world stock markets and investment too. They also raise issues around how money is invested and wider social impacts.We know from our survey that clients are still very concerned about the arms industry and are active in boycotting states and actions they have issues with. We remain clear that there is no appetite from clients to profit from talk of rearmament. More positively, we also know that funds we invest in take full recognition of drivers of mass migration. Where possible they will seek to align with Sustainable Development Goals and invest in some of the mitigations of causes (that are not all conflict driven) such as climate change, water supply and improved agricultural methodologies. 

We’ve had a busy year here at Ethical Futures. In June we had a bit of a staff switch-up. Our paraplanner, Ellie Maletto, chose to move on to a new career path elsewhere. We are grateful for all her hard work over the last two years and wish her all the best in her new venture. We were then joined later in the month by Stuart Palmer who joined our administration team alongside Ashley and Alan. We then had some internal restructuring, and Ashley was promoted from Senior Administrator to Client Services Manager. 

We last had our team photos taken in August of 2022 and since then we’ve had two people leave us and two new people join. So, we figured it was about time to refresh our photos. We invited Lewis from Lewspics to join us at our August team meeting for a photoshoot. You can find our new headshots on our website and our team photos have been sprinkled across our communications. 

Another big project in August was the launch of our client survey. We last conducted a client survey in 2019 and we think it’s safe to say that a lot has changed in that time! We decided to focus on four main areas of concern; SDR, Conflict, Politics and Taxation. The main themes that our research discovered were that there is lack of awareness around SDR, there is hope that a Labour government will be a positive change for the environment and that there is severe concern about a second Trump presidency. If you would like to read our survey report in full, you can find it on our website here. 

In May we joined Adviser Action. This initiative by CCLA aims to help the advisory community engage with sustainability issues. So far, we have signed a letter to challenge Amazon on their labour standards. We look forward to continuing our work with them. To read more about Adviser Action, click here. 

We have continued our work with ShareAction, this year we attended two different AGMs on their behalf. Alan and Julian attended ABRDN’s AGM where Alan asked a question regarding their reporting of the ethnicity pay gap. Marian attended Lloyd’s Banking Group’s AGM where she asked a question regarding the lack of transparency in their green finance reporting. To read more about Alan’s experience, click here. 

In May, Shane, Ellie and Marian attended UKSIF’s Spring Conference. We were treated to an inspiring lineup of speakers from across the sustainable finance spectrum. To read more about it, click here. 

In September, Julian and Marian attended the first ever GoodStock festival held by NextGen Planners. Billed as the first of its kind conference for financial planners who are passionate about doing good – a perfect fit for us! Julian spoke on the final panel of the day and shared his thoughts on how to engage with your clients around the important issues. To read Marian’s account of the day, click here. 

Julian also appeared on NextGen’s podcast to discuss the very fitting topic of “ESG - before it was cool”.We’re very grateful to be asked to contribute to conversations like this and to continue to share the message of ethical finance. To listen to the episode on YouTube, click here. 

And just like that we’re in January! We hope that you have had a good year. All the team at Ethical Futures would like to wish you a happy festive season. We look forward to helping you make your money change your world in the New Year.