Share Sounds. from The Responsible Investment Show related to Investing in Funds

MPs on the Energy and Climate Change Committee have warned the Government that, on its current course, the UK will fail to achieve its 2020 renewable energy target: to provide for 15% of its energy needs from renewable sources. This comes on the back of the government cutting back subsidies for renewable energy. Share Radio's Steve Clarke talks with Bruce Davies, joint MD of green investment company Abundance; Ricardo Pineiro, lead manager at the Foresight Solar Fund, and head of Responsibility at Hermes Investment Management, Leon Kahmi.

This is the Responsible Investment show. Morningstar, the investment research and management firm, recently held its annual Investment Conference with social and ethically aware investing as one of the central themes. The event comes a year after Morningstar unveiled plans to launch the industry's first sustainability ratings index for global mutual and exchange traded funds. So what prompted that decision? Patrick Jones went to the company's conference where he put that question to San Lie, Director of Manager Research at Morningstar Benelux. But how transparent are your investments? Industry experts say that a lack of fee transparency in many funds is stinging buyers with hidden charges -- in some cases they're so high the investments could lose money. It's claimed some unscrupulous fund managers may be exploiting the lack of transparency for their own ends. Matt Cox was also at the Morningstar Conference and he asked Gina Miller a founding partner of SCM and an advocate of fee transparency, about how opaque charging can hurt investors. And finally, James Donald of Lazard Asset Management told the Morningstar conference how his company screens for Environment and Social Governance or - ESG - in companies that operate in emerging markets. Share Radio reporter Patrtick Jones caught up with him and asked him about the ESG qualities it looks for in emerging market businesses.

Can money be made from businesses that follow a social and environmental agenda? You might think the answer to that is "No" yet you couldn't be more wrong? Go through the pages of crowd funding sites and you'll find hundreds of businesses whose financial objectives are underpinned by a strong commitment to social and environment issues. One example is a company called "The Wave". Founder Nick Hounsfield has turned a passion for surfing into a major project that brings together people of all ages and social groups, with the help of a lake and some cutting edge technology. Chris Hines is the project's "Head of Sustainability" while Christopher and Jenna Gordon are investors and members of "The Wave" board. All four of them join Juliette Foster in the studio.

What about investment in the Fairtrade industry? Are there special funds and how are they structured? Dana Roelofs is the Business Development Manager at 'Incofin Investment Management', a Belgian based Impact Investor that advises the Fairtrade Access Fund, which operates in Latin America and Africa. She described how the fund works to our reporter Patrick Jones.