Ethical finance 'suffering from low awareness'

Awareness of ethical finance is still low among UK residents, despite a growing interest in such products.

This is according to new research presented by EIRIS, which found that 62 per cent of people could not identify or describe any ethical financial products or services.

The online poll, carried out by Ipsos MORI on behalf of the non-profit research organisation, also discovered that 35 per cent of Britons do not trust the claims of financial providers regarding ethical products.

However, the survey revealed that 44 per cent of people would like to find out more about the ethical credentials of the next financial product or service they decide to invest in.

’The message that it is possible to both make money and make a difference when investing ethically is starting to get through to consumers,’ commented Mark Robertson, communications and development manager at EIRIS.

’But levels of awareness, trust and confidence in ethical finance are low.’

The advantages of ethical financial products in the UK were recently promoted by National Ethical Investment Week, which ran from November 8th to 14th.
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