Opinion
Solving for Opportunities and Impact
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With personal finance expected to be the fastest-growing sector of fintech in the coming years, it will be critical to ensure that consumers are equipped with the tools they need to make the appropriate investment decisions.
By Tensie Whelan and Dr Elie Chachoua
Investment professionals are gearing up: unlike most baby boomers, millennials and Gen Z want their investments to be aligned with their sustainability preferences and they expect to see the impact. What is more, they expect to make investment decisions conveniently and digitally.
Fintech companies are responding. Companies like Earthfolio, Motif, Ellevest or Betterment are already well-established players in the personal investment space, with each offering their own approach to sustainable investing. Change is also happening at the pension level, with companies such as Matter providing sustainable pension plans to retail investors through a combination of exclusion, thematic and ESG integration strategies. Last but not least are crowdlending platforms such as Trine, which enable retail investors to finance impact investing projects.
As more offers come to market, it will be important to address three important issues, the first one of which is financial literacy. Research shows that when it comes to payment – the largest segment of fintech so far (see graph below) - next gens are not always properly equipped and some tend to over-spend as a result of the ease with which payments can be made. With personal finance expected to be the fastest-growing sector of fintech in the coming years, it will be critical to ensure that consumers are equipped with the tools they need to make the appropriate investment decisions.
Read the full article in The Economist.
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Tensie Whelan is a Clinical Professor of Business and Society and Director of the Center for Sustainable Business.
Fintech companies are responding. Companies like Earthfolio, Motif, Ellevest or Betterment are already well-established players in the personal investment space, with each offering their own approach to sustainable investing. Change is also happening at the pension level, with companies such as Matter providing sustainable pension plans to retail investors through a combination of exclusion, thematic and ESG integration strategies. Last but not least are crowdlending platforms such as Trine, which enable retail investors to finance impact investing projects.
As more offers come to market, it will be important to address three important issues, the first one of which is financial literacy. Research shows that when it comes to payment – the largest segment of fintech so far (see graph below) - next gens are not always properly equipped and some tend to over-spend as a result of the ease with which payments can be made. With personal finance expected to be the fastest-growing sector of fintech in the coming years, it will be critical to ensure that consumers are equipped with the tools they need to make the appropriate investment decisions.
Read the full article in The Economist.
____
Tensie Whelan is a Clinical Professor of Business and Society and Director of the Center for Sustainable Business.