Helm Godfrey appoints sustainable investment pioneer John Ditchfield to spearhead responsible offering
Financial Adviser firm Helm Godfrey has hired leading sustainable and responsible investment expert John Ditchfield as Head of Responsible investment.
Ditchfield will be spearheading Helm Godfrey’s plans to further develop its products, services and levels of expertise in responsible investment.
Helm Godfrey is one of the UK’s largest wealth managers and already has a significant allocation to sustainability funds, with c.£45m of assets under advice currently subject to an ethical or sustainable mandate. Helm has been advising on these strategies for over 10 years and is looking to enhance its research process and support for advisers.
Ditchfield is well known as a pioneer of responsible and sustainable investment and a leading figure in the industry. He is Co-Chairman of the Ethical Investment Association, the UK’s main networking organisation for advisers active in the responsible investment arena.
As a former Director of the UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association, a member of the Social Stock Exchange admissions panel and a leading expert in sustainable finance, Ditchfield brings a huge depth of experience in responsible investing to the new role. He was also a Director of advice firm Barchester Green Investment, which was sold to Castlefield Partners, and will be providing Helm Godfrey with advice around wealth management.
Graham Cross, CEO at Helm Godfrey, said:
“Appointing a highly-regarded expert like John is a clear demonstration of Helm Godfrey’s ambition to develop a leading responsible investment offering and is a broader reflection of client demand for sustainable investment solutions. At Helm we want to be constantly improving our proposition for our advisers and with the current appetite for responsible investing we see this as an important market. Advisers and their clients want thorough information on ethical and sustainable funds and as such it is our duty to ensure we can deliver comprehensive research and support to help them with their financial planning.”
John Ditchfield, Head of Responsible Investment at Helm Godfrey, added:
“I am hugely excited to be joining Helm Godfrey. From baby boomers to millennials the interest in, and demand for, responsible investment is escalating fast. The market for responsible investment products and funds has expanded to accommodate the wide range of personal values that each individual investor will bring to the table. I will be working hard to combine my insights on responsible investment with the established expertise at Helm Godfrey. It’s an exciting combination and we believe we can develop a financial advisory offer at the forefront of the sustainable investment field.”