New York Life Investments has created an educational program on sustainable investing for U.S. advisors, the firm announced Wednesday.
The Candriam Academy is a free service designed to improve investing education surrounding sustainable goals, New York Life Investments said.
The academy was developed by Candriam, which is a New York Life Investments boutique and global multi-specialist asset manager with expertise in sustainable investing to help financial advisors and intermediaries better understand how to analyze, identify and evaluate sustainable investments, the firm said.
More than half of investors (58%) said their advisors play the biggest role in deciding on their investments, but only 35% of investors said they know about sustainable investing, according to New York Life Investments research based on a survey about sustainable investing that included 600 participants.
Once the investors learned about sustainable investing, 63% started investing with sustainable goals in mind, the survey said. Investors who have worked with advisors for less time were more likely to be invested in sustainable funds. Investors who had worked with their advisors for less than five years were nearly four-times more likely to have invested in an ESG fund than those who had worked with their advisors for 11 or more years, according to the survey.
“Education is the bedrock of effective investment management, and our mission is to close the pronounced information gap in sustainable investing by providing high-quality, actionable tools and resources to help investors and advisors learn the essentials of ESG – especially as ESG funds have generated strong performance and record inflows during this most recent market environment,” Yie-Hsin Hung, CEO of New York Life Investment Management, said in a statement.
The Camdriam Academy was first launched in Europe in 2017 and has nearly 4,000 members who have conducted more than 8,000 hours of accredited training across 15 countries. The U.S. Academy is composed of eight online modules that offer participants an overview of sustainable investing. Two CE credits are available upon completion. Advisors and investors can register at https://riachannel.com/candriam/.
“As sustainable investing becomes gradually more mainstream in the U.S., improving education is crucial to provide financial advisors, intermediaries and end investors the necessary tools and insight to understand and evaluate ESG strategies,” Naïm Abou-Jaoudé, CEO of Candriam and chairman of New York Life Investments International, said.