FTfm columnist John Dizard was, apparently, just tapping into the global zeitgeist when he wrote of the debate surrounding shale gas reserves. In his November 1 column, Shale gas numbers may not add up, he described what sounded like the lone voice of a softly spoken shale sceptic, Art Berman.

At the time that we went to press, Art Berman was a columnist for World Oil and the editor of World Oil was Perry Fischer. By the end of the week both those facts had changed and  Art Berman now finds himself a star on energy blog spots.

John Dizard, meanwhile, has promised to return to the shale gas issue with “ever more tedious levels of detail”. He says: “Mr Berman is not the only professional who has raised questions about producibility, cost, and decline curves.” We’re hoping whoever the other professionals are that they enjoy being in the limelight.

Half of UK consumers would like to check the ethical credentials of their next investment

Post credit crunch, most people would expect investors - or would-be ones - to focus on how to gain returns from any financial product, while other considerations such as ethical concerns have headed out of the door.

Not so, it seems. An Ipsos Mori/Eiris consumer survey that dropped into my email box today, showed nearly half of UK consumers are keen to find out about the ethical credentials of their next investment. Given that most of those polled are already investors, they are likely to have some relevant views.

They felt banks and other financial institutions should prioritise concerns such as protecting human rights, investing in fair trade, protecting the environment and tackling climate change. These are now the hot issues rather than the more traditional ones of manufacturing relating to alcohol, tobacco and gambling, says Eiris, the Ethical Investment Research Service.

But there is still a long way to go. Awareness of ethical financial products is low as is trust, with more than a third not believing claims made by financial providers. But only 15 per cent thought ethical products were likely to underperform similar standard products.

They might want to take a look at a report brought out this week by Mercer, the consultant, that lays out volumes of academic research on how taking account of environmental, social and corporate governance issues can have a positive impact on portfolio returns.

One thing is sure. Green, social and ethical funds have grown considerably in number and size in Europe over the past year, in spite of the fall-out from the financial crisis.

The number of retail funds increased over the year to the end of June to 683 from 537, or by 27 per cent, according to Vigeo, a corporate social responsibility ratings agency, and Morningstar.

Guy Hands, head of private equity house Terra Firma, warns US and Europe could suffer ‘Japanese problem’ unless banks’ leveraged loans are restructured

Goldman apologises for role in crisis and pledges $500m to help US small businesses

Mark Lowe, who set up Nomos Capital Partners is being sued for discrimination by a former employee

Doomed to repeat history? asks whether we need to learn from excessive consumer debt or was it an issue of leverage in the financial system

Bankers fear over-regulation

Tankers store oil as futures prices rocket

The blog posts on websites read by UK independent financial advisers are alive with objections to comments by Andrew Fisher, outspoken chief executive of Towry Law.

Mr Fisher runs a fee-based advice outfit, but revealed recently that his firm gets £6m a year in trail commission on legacy business it inherited from firms it has taken over. Towry Law does not provide a service in return for this money - an example of how it is possible to earn money for nothing in the strange world of financial advice. Continue reading "Money for nothing"

Lehman seeks $10bn clawback in Barclays suit

Bank regulation but at what cost to the economy?

Myners says ISC code is not strong enough

Invesco Perpetual launches split cap

Body created to lobby for the financial sector

TPG investors can cut exposure to financial fund

Terra Firma writes down EMI value

Property portfolios make gains

Cut tax relief for the wealthy, says TUC

Protesters lash out at Goldman

Archbishop of Canterbury attacks City culture

The Irish National Pensions Reserve Fund is getting a rough ride at the moment. Having been forced to pick up the tab for the recapitalisation of the Irish banks (some €7bn worth of preference shares in Bank of Ireland and Allied Irish Banks), it is about to lose its chief executive, John Corrigan, who moves upstairs to replace his boss, head of the National Treasury Management Agency, the NPRF’s parent body.

This will not be a pleasant job, but nor will running the NPRF. As well as easing in a new chief executive, it has to work on reconciling its responsible investment policy (it has signed up to the UN Principles for Responsible Investing and is a member of the Carbon Disclosure Project) with its legal mandate to “secure the optimal total financial return provided the level of risk to the moneys held or invested is acceptable”.

According to human rights advocate Mark Cumming, the contradiction between this and the NPRF’s own stated intention to “incorporate ESG factors into investment research, analysis and decision making” stands in the way of its developing coherent policies.

If the Irish government can push through amending legislation requiring the NPRF to bail out the banks, surely it should be able to rewrite the NPRF’s mandate in order to allow it to take long term non-financial risk factors into account and ensure Irish pensioners will not profit from destructive corporate practices such as human rights abuses or uncontrolled environmental damage.

London’s status in doubt as BlueCrest decides to relocate 50 staff to Geneva

Resolution prepares to make further deals

UK’s oldest private equity group, 3i, edges into postive returns

Ceiops to give annuities reprieve in UK, opening the door to exceptions for existing annuity books

Move to curb EU fund managers’ pay

TPG, the private equity firm, could invest in JAL

Microfinance group in CDO scheme

Former Optimal chief faces Madoff charges

Two former Bear Stearns fund chiefs cleared of fraud

Schroders celebrates two consecutive quarters of institutional net fund inflows

Brussels warns IASB saying rules shake-up could cause instability

Paulson & Co, the New York hedge fund, has disclosed a 2.08 per cent stake in Cadbury

Galleon probe expands to take in tech analysts