Responsible Investing: Access Denied

Abstract

Retail investors are increasingly demanding responsible investments as part of their portfolios. Retail investors also, generally, require the services of an advisor. This article argues that traditional mutual funds, while structurally able to provide responsible investments, have not provided responsible holdings to their mass affluent retail investing clientele. While institutional investors, and certain very wealthy retail investors, have a multitude of options to avail themselves of responsible investments, mass affluent retail investors have less of an ability to invest responsibly. Advisors and investors do not have access to the majority of responsible investments, nor are advisors adequately trained or properly compensated to provide advice on these products. Regulatory changes to advisor licensing and training are recommended to address these problems to provide mass affluent retail investors with better access to responsible investing options.

Keywords: responsible investing, mutual funds, disclosure, materiality, KYC