Money Matters’ Dr Rodger Spiller Highlights Perils Of Greenwashing To Coincide With Ethical Investment Week

New Zealand’s leading ethical investment specialist, Dr Rodger Spiller of Money Matters, is using this year’s Ethical Investment Week to highlight the perils of “greenwashing”.

“Research by New Zealand’s Financial Markets Authority (FMA) shows 68 percent of New Zealand investors prefer their money to be invested responsibly,” says Dr Spiller. “Responding to this demand, most fund managers are now promoting their ethical credentials. However the FMA has criticised 14 KiwiSaver and other managed funds for a "blurring of the line" on ethical investments and warns it will take action against those who deceive investors with greenwashing.

“Instances of what the FMA has called “misleading marketing, poor product design, and other types of greenwashing” are unfortunately on the rise,” says Dr Spiller. “The FMA research identified that investors found language and jargon a barrier to understanding investments in general, and ethical investments in particular. Having an expert adviser who can research and interrogate claims that are made and interpret them for you, can make all the difference.”

Helping investors meet this challenge, Ethical Investment Week will provide an important opportunity for investors to become better informed and to connect with an adviser who can help them aim to genuinely do well and do good.

Ethical Investment Week is co-ordinated by the Ethical Advisers’ Co-op, a group of leading expert ethical advisers. The 31 members of the Ethical Advisers’ Co-op collectively advise on more than $2.7 billion on behalf of more than 3,600 Australians and New Zealanders. Dr Spiller is currently the only New Zealand Co-op adviser.

To coincide with Ethical Investment Week, the Co-op has released this new three-minute video for investors, which features three of Dr Spiller’s clients. The Co-op has also published an updated two-page Ethical Investment Guide. “I have been involved in the preparation of the guide,” says Dr Spiller, “because I identified the value of such a practical, and accessible resource. I am confident that it will assist investors.”

Dr Spiller is also launching a new podcast series during Ethical Investment Week. The first episode features an interview with a Money Matters client exploring the why, what, and how of the ethical investment journey, from the client’s motivations through to his ethical investment plan and portfolio provided by Money Matters. This comprehensive podcast interview provides fresh insights and valuable guidance for anyone interested in understanding ethical investment and how they can work with a specialist ethical adviser.

Dr Spiller says that it’s heartening to see the media and investors taking a greater interest in ethical investment and for advisers like him to be able to meet that demand for independent information and expert guidance.

“Ethical investment advisers and their clients aim higher. We seek to reduce environmental, social, and financial risk, and increase financial return by creating more positive environmental and social impact. By measuring what really matters and reading the right signs we can shift from short-termism and narrow thinking to a longer and wider view that serves personal and global needs.

”New Zealand investors have a proven interest in how their investments are making a difference in solving environmental and social problems. We all have the power to demand the information we need to make authentic, ethical investment decisions. Greenwashing is simply not good enough.”

About Dr Rodger Spiller

Dr Rodger Spiller holds a PhD in ethical investment and ethical business and has played a key role in the investment industry for decades. He was a Member of the Securities Commission (now the Financial Markets Authority). He was instrumental in bringing the Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA) to New Zealand. Dr Spiller was also a Director of RIAA for more than 10 years.

Dr Spiller has been recognised as New Zealand’s foremost adviser based on conventional investment criteria, winning the inaugural GoodReturns Financial Planner of the Year Award. His credentials in ethical investment were also recognised nationally when he won the Inaugural Mindful Money Best Ethical Financial Adviser Award.

Dr Spiller has been interviewed by RNZ on many occasions and was a financial adviser on the TVNZ series “Money Doctor” and a regular contributor on TVNZ Breakfast. For more information about Dr Spiller and his business Money Matters go to: www.moneymatters.co.nz

For more information about Ethical Investment Week go to:

https://www.ethicaladviserscoop.org/ethical-investment-week.html

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