The key investment industry trends of 2018 so far

Reviewing the most popular talking points of the past six months

After a busy and often unpredictable first half of the year (in part thanks to President Donald Trump's Twitter account and the torturous path of the Brexit negotiations), now seems a good time to take stock of some of the big industry-wide developments and what the fallout could be for the rest of the year.

What has been particularly noticeable over the first six months of 2018 is the plethora of launches in the ESG space, both from active and passive providers, and senior appointments. In our part of the industry, client demand may not have caught up quite yet with this level of activity, but groups want their businesses to be fit-for-purpose in this area. Challenges now include more client education and better labelling of propositions. Groups must also be careful they are not just adding greater ESG expertise for the sake of it, but can show the added value for investors. Morgan St...