Viva Lewes Issue #150 March 2019

TRADE SECRETS
Lee Waters
Making things better with your money
Barwells Wealth is based
in a tranquil cow-shed
conversion in Glynde.
It’s on our (one) day of
snow that I visit, and the
short walk from the station,
flanked by Downs,
is still and evocative. I’ve
come to chat with Chief
Executive Lee Waters
about ethical investing. “Barwells Wealth…?”
I ask gingerly. He smiles, “no, it’s not about
being wealthy! We were established as Barwells
Solicitors in 1896, but have been operating as
financial advisers since 1998. We split into two
(connected) companies about five years ago. We
advise on all angles of personal finance and our
clients are many and varied.”
We’ve agreed to talk about ESG – environmental,
social and corporate governance – which,
Lee confirms, “is becoming much more mainstream.
It’s been around for a good 20 years, but
in the last two or three many more people come
through our door asking specifically for this”.
So, what does it mean? “It covers a number of
things”, says Lee. “Someone may have a particularly
strong view about one area they don’t want
their money near. Tobacco, alcohol, gambling,
fossil fuels. This we call ‘negative screening’. We
compile an investment portfolio with those areas
firmly screened out.”
And what about positive screening? “That’s
where we actively look at areas the client wants
to support. Corporate governance is a big one
these days: companies that are being well and
fairly managed. Obviously the basics are paying
a living wage, and not relying on zero hours
contracts. But of course there’s more. Gender
equality, for instance. These days, good companies
are a better investment
anyway: they’re more
sustainable.”
He also tells me about
“dark-green” and “lightgreen”
investors. The former
signifies someone who
wants lots of detail, and
has very specific areas of
concern. “Climate change,
of course – renewable energy – education, health
and wellbeing, are all common. Light-green
clients are concerned, but want us to sort the
detail. Most people”, he says, “don’t want to feel
they’re funding anything destructive. Take human
rights. Is a company operating in countries with
oppressive regimes? Are they operating in Syria,
or parts of Africa?”
He also says a client could fruitfully and
confidently, today, invest “entirely in renewable
energy. Recent governments have had to support
this – offering tax incentives, and tariffs, for a
windfarm, say, which are locked in for the next
twenty or thirty years. This means, today, these
make for good, solid investments. A lot of general
investor money has flowed into renewables.”
Lee enjoys working with his clients, many of
whom stay for generations. He grew up in
Eastbourne, and originally studied Law, before
following in his father’s footsteps into personal
finance (and, indeed, into Barwells; Roger
Waters is Financial Planner). Lee feels strongly
how attitudes to money change over time and
with different generations. “Financial education
should be taught at schools”, he says. “At GCSE
level. It’s not about numbers – although, yes,
that is a scientific calculator on my desk (I have
another in my bag!) – it’s about people’s lives.
That’s what matters.” Charlotte Gann
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