Nearly half of financial advisers say SIPP clients have put more money into ESG strategies in the wake of the pandemic, latest research from CoreData reveals.

Amati’s Alternative Investment Market (AIM) VCT has sold out within five days of launching its offer, the firm reports, raising GBP25 million from private investors, GBP13 million of which was in the first 90 minutes and GBP21 million was raised on the first day. 
 

While thematic investment funds have become hugely popular in recent years, investors need to treat them with caution, according to Nick Wood, head of fund research at Quilter Cheviot.

In the UK inflation rose to 5.5 per cent in January and then showed little sign of change for the month, writes Harriet O’Brien. 

Steven Tredget, Partner at Oakley Capital, writes that more companies are remaining private for longer while public markets are shrinking, with profound implications for investors.

FE Investments has launched a new range of responsible investment reports in what it describes as the next step in leading the discretionary fund management industry to make responsible investments easily integrated into advice propositions and client management. 

Data from Boring Money reveals radical changes in the UK retail investor population over the last year. As many as 12 per cent of adults aged under 45 now report owning some crypto assets, double the same figure a year ago. 

Amundi writes that in an increasing complex and changing world, investors have expressed a critical need to better understand their environment and the evolution of investment practices in order to define their asset allocation and help construct their portfolios. 

BlackRock has launched a range of UK-domiciled sustainable iShares index mutual funds, and the firm writes that this is to address the gap in the UK wealth market for strategies that help clients make a sustainable transition with indexing. 

The scrapping of commission payments to financial advisers was set to strengthen consumer appetite for ETFs in the UK, writes Philippa Aylmer.