Responsible & Sustainable Investment (RSI) Committee

Help firms understand, implement and develop industry good practice guides for ESG

Industry challenge

Firms need to understand what is required of them under RSI.  This is not just UK, but EU wide. Firms are looking at TISA to develop recommendations for compliance with MiFID II suitability rules, disclosures to customers and the data required to ensure customers can make investment choices based on objective, comparable data.

Group purpose

The Responsible & Sustainable Investment (RSI) Committee aims to help firms understand, implement and develop industry good practice guides for ESG. Please see here for the most recent.

Areas of focus

The requirements for Responsible & Sustainable Investment (RSI) are known at very high level, but details, implementation timescales and reporting are not clear. The industry is seeking guidance on Understanding, Implementation, Good practice and Reporting disclosures

  • Our active participation in the FCA’s Disclosures and Labelling Advisory Group continues. This is restricted membership group, to enable open industry dialogue with FCA on SDR disclosures, including feedback on Sustainable Disclosure Regulation (“SDR”) covering the planned regime and its future development. The labelling regime covers 4 labels, initially restricted to funds, but we should like to expand it to include portfolios and take account of advisory businesses and overseas funds as well as wealth managers and funds.
  • Two working groups have been established – i) Reporting (including net zero transition); and ii) Labelling and Suitability. The working groups are looking to develop reporting templates, which the TISA groups have agreed to deliver, agree on the content and format of data requirements to enable funds and portfolios to be labels to be appropriately labelled, as well as Best Practice Guides. We will be developing our proposal for an investment factsheet covering key regulatory disclosures, especially ESG, to sit above/replace KIIDs and above prospectuses. The first drafts have been published and we have shared with the FCA who are keen to engage in discussions on the December 2023 Policy Statement with the first meetings scheduled shortly.
  • FCA Market Intelligence and Engagement team in ESG have approached TISA to look at the extent to which ESG is incorporated into the investment advice journey in the UK – key meeting to take place with the FCA team
  • TISA responded to the HM Treasury Consultation on ESG Ratings Providers
  • TISA responded to DP23/1 on Sustainable Disclosure and Governance and DP23/2 on Asset Management
  • TISA will be responding to the IRSG/ICMA draft code on ESG Ratings and Data providers
  • Conference held September 2023

Good Practice Guides

Best Practice Guide to completing the European ESG Template (EET)

Good Practice Guide – Responsible & Sustainable Investing

Participating member firms

abrdn
Aegon UK PLC
Allen & Overy LLP
Altus Consulting
AQR Capital Management (Europe) LLP
Ashurst Risk Advisory LLP
Association of Investment Companies (AIC)
Baillie Gifford & Co
Barclays Wealth
Baringa Partners LLP
Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc
Brooks Macdonald Asset Management Ltd
Cambridge Sustainable Investment Partners Limited (CSIP) LTD
Canada Life
Charles Stanley & Co Ltd
Colchester Global Investors Limited
Crealogix
Digital Moneybox Ltd
Dynamic Planner
Ernst & Young
Evelyn Partners
Eversheds Sutherland (International) LLP
FE Fundinfo
Financial Software
Forester Life

Hargreaves Lansdown
Impact Investing Institute
Invesco
James Sharp
Kandor Consultancy
Kroll
Link Group
Lloyds Banking Group
M&G Investments
MFS International (UK) Ltd
Model Office
Morningstar UK Ltd
NextWealth
Norton Rose Fulbright
Optima Consulting Partners Limited
Pinsent Masons LLP
Quilter Cheviot Limited
Rathbone Bros Plc
RBC Brewin Dolphin
SIX Financial Information
SRI Services
St James’s Place Wealth Management
Taylor Wessing
The Investment Association
Virgin Money PLC

Jeffrey Mushens, Technical Policy Director leads on this work at TISA

Chair: Philip Spyropoulos, Eversheds Sutherland

Deputy Chair: Gemma Woodward, Quilter Cheviot

If you are a TISA member who would like to get involved with the RSI work, please get in touch

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