Attended the launch of National Ethical Investment Week at the House of Commons yesterday evening. A great evening catching up with a lot of old friends from the Socially Responsible Investment world, but what really struck me was the buzz that has been generated around the ethical and sustainable investment field of late.

I think there are a number of reasons for this, here are three of them-
 

Firstly, the low-carbon clean-tech field is the only sector of the UK economy that has seen significant growth of late- taken as a whole the CBI believe that over a third of the UK’s economic growth in 2011/12 is likely to have come from green business, (If you want to know more read "The Colour of Growth

" which the CBI brought out in July). The UK is going to need £1 trillion in investment to meet its 2030 Climate Change Bill agreements-  this means that an investment of £50bn every year. Fundamentally there's gold in them thar hills!

Secondly, with the retreat of the state, alternative methods of supplying public goods and services are being sought. Social Impact Investment and Social Enterprise Funding are beginning to attract serious attention. Plans are now well advanced to set up a Social Stock Exchange which will allow individuals and institutions to invest in social businesses from around the world.

Finally, bankers are people too! Being told constantly that you are an evil parasite who loves grinding the faces of the poor in the mud must sting, so I think there is a general desire to look beyond casino capitalism and reconnect with the fundamental purpose of financial services- providing the goods and services society wants.