In Focus: Profitable advice business  

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However, Mackay acknowledged a growing scepticism around greenwashing.

"This is in part of communications challenge to an audience which largely looks at the top 10 holdings and does not often appreciate the nuances around engagement rather than exclusion," she said.

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She also said people were gravitating to bigger brands when it came to sustainable investing and that their popularity varied with the investor's age: brands with the greatest disparity in consideration between the under 65s and over 65s were JP Morgan (more popular with a younger audience) and Jupiter (more popular with an older audience).

Finally, Mackay pointed to the growing advice gap as a major trend shaping the investing landscape.

The advice gap grew by an additional 500,000 people in the past 12 months, according to Boring Money, and the assets in this pool increased by £113bn.

"The opportunity is clear but the solutions (as ever) will need time and some patience. The appetite for hybrid advice is increasing, however awareness of this as an option remains very low, acting as a major barrier to growth," said Mackay.

She added Boring Money anticipated serious growth in this market as more big players have started to become involved.

carmen.reichman@ft.com