Published by Fund Action.

 — Hillary Jackson

Investors Against Genocide has begun targeting financial advisors for the first time with an advertising campaign that highlights the group’s first white paper and a recent survey. “Financial advisors view it as their job to serve their clients and offer them options that meet their needs. We want to present to them with the research and the view that this is something their customers care about very deeply and very, very broadly and that there are options,” IAG Chairman Eric Cohen told FA.

IAG traditionally has targeted mutual fund firms in its efforts to halt investment in companies that are linked to genocide in Sudan and other parts of the world, attending shareholder meetings and submitting genocide-free investing proposals to the firms. It has not spent money on advertising before, and the new effort to target financial advisors is an attempt to increase pressure on the fund firms through their investors, Cohen said. “We hope more and more financial advisors begin to get the idea and help guide customers and clients [and] provide genocide-free alternatives,” he said. “We hope there will be word of mouth.”

IAG banner ads in an e-bulletin published by Investment News debuted on June 4 and will run weekly for one month, Cohen said, explaining that the non-profit is staffed by volunteers and does not have a large advertising budget. He said the group would evaluate click-through rates and other feedback before deciding whether to continue with the campaign.

IAG’s new white paper—another first for the group—provides an overview of the genocide-free investment landscape, including research conducted over the past several years. The survey, published earlier this month, was conducted by KRC Research and shows that 88% of Americans want their mutual funds to be free from investments in companies connected to genocide. For individuals earning $50,000 or more, that percentage climbs to 95%. The survey also found that less than a third of Americans are aware that their mutual fund company may invest their savings in companies that help fund genocide.

“Even we were surprised that the numbers were so overwhelming,” Cohen said. “We wanted to call it out to mutual fund companies—if they want to be in this business, they really should pay attention to what the American public wants.”