I promise to prepare

I promise to be provocative

I promise to entertain

 

Although companies, investors and analysis firms are the main protagonists in the SRI process, there is also a significant role for consultants and advisors who can help these protagonists improve their efficiency and effectiveness.

This opportunity has not been effectively captured in the past

Sustainable investor offers…

Support and advice to consultancies to help them help their clients manage their SRI engagement.  This ranges from informal advice to bespoke training sessions.

I will always prioritise improved understanding of sustainability in capital markets over personal commercial gain.  I am therefore delighted to share my understanding of corporate sustainability communications and SRI investor needs with any other advisors and consultants.  Equally, I am happy to work through other consultancies to help them deliver to their clients.

The wide range of subjects covered by SRI investors obliges analysts to draw in expertise from a diverse number of independent experts including NGOs, professional associations, industry bodies, academic institutions etc.

In return, these organisations often have an interest in ensuring that SRI analysts are clearly briefed on their areas of expertise and current research output.

However, SRI analysts differ from other audiences, have different needs and need to be communicated with differently.

Sustainable investor offers…

Advice to independent research providers on:

  • how to maintain a profile with SRI investors
  • how to develop communications processes for the SRI community
  • how to shape messages so that they resonate most powerfully with SRI investors

 

Newly-emerged from a period of consolidation, SRI in agencies should now be facing a phase of fierce competition.  The terms of this competition may be the same as before (breadth of coverage, quantity of indicators, price etc) or new factors may be introduced (e.g. client responsiveness, investment-relevance etc.)
Either way, agencies must emerge in a shape fit to:
  • Remain relevant  to asset managers who are showing ever more interest in ‘integrated analysis’
  • Compete in a globalised market for SRI research (whether as ‘waterfront providers’ or ‘niche specialists’)
  • Build and sustain competitive advantage in the face of aggressive commoditisation of data and falling demand for ‘ratings’
  • Withstand the next (inevitable) wave of excess capital to hit this section of the value chain

Sustainable investor offers…

  • Facilitated sessions to challenge senior management thinking on the business dynamics of SRI
  • Training on how to integrate sustainability research with mainstream investment decision-making (‘integrated analysis’)
  • Client needs analysis to help agencies understand the working practices and research process of asset management clients
  • Practical steps to maximise the efficiency of business relationships with companies and research partners

Me

You pay for Mike Tyrrell, you get Mike Tyrrell.  I do not subcontract work.

Rates

My rates range from £750 - £1,500 per day depending on the client, the nature of the work and the fit with my expertise.  As guidance, I expect to charge:

  • Asset manager - £1,000 per day
  • Listed companies - £1,000 per day
  • Brokers & investment bankers - £1,500 per day
  • SRI research agencies & others - £750 per day

Confidentiality – but not exclusivity

I understand absolutely the need for commercial confidences to remain confidential, under all circumstances.  Your ideas or ideas that we develop together will remain entirely yours.

However, I am also interested in widest uptake of sustainability priorities by capital markets, so I will never commit to exclusivity.  My best ideas at any time are available to anyone who wants to pay for them

Having worked as a broker for eight years, I am entirely accustomed to managing this tension.

Efficiency

Consultancy should be about finding actionable solutions in as efficient and direct a manner possible.

I will not do more than 5 days work for any one client; if I can’t be concise, you shouldn’t be paying.

Quality

I charge a premium rate for premium analysis.  If you want a basic introduction to the SRI industry, I will direct you to places you can find this at a lower (or no) cost.

Integrity and independence

As Editor of SRI-CONNECT, I am required to be entirely non-partisan and to facilitate open-access to the SRI market.

As a consultant at Sustainable Investor, I am free to develop the most appropriate and efficient solutions for individual clients

From time to time, I will be offered work that causes a potential conflict with my role as impartial editor of SRI-CONNECT.  I will turn such work down but will always endeavour to help find an alternative provider.

Sense of humour

Because there's no reason why really serious stuff needs to be done really seriously.

 

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