Ethical Investing Without the Echo Chamber: Meeting Clients Where They Are

Sustainable finance is getting louder, more political, and at times more confusing. Financial planner Cleona Lira argues the missing piece isn’t a new fund label, but a healthier relationship with money: one that includes values, emotions, and even silence. If clients are overwhelmed and disengaged, what would it take for advice to feel empowering again?

Sustainable investing should be getting easier. More products, more data, more regulation, surely that means more clarity for clients and advisers alike. And yet, in this conversation with Cleona Lira (Conscious Money), we explore why ethical investing can feel harder than ever: politically charged headlines, corporate backtracking, regulatory delays, and a general sense that people are simply too stretched to care.

Cleona shares her biggest frustrations from the past year in sustainable finance, particularly the growing gap in “shared reality” about the harm corporations can cause, and the slow progress of clearer labelling through the FCA’s Sustainability Disclosure Requirements (SDR). She also unpacks a tension many advisers recognise: evidence-based, low-cost passive investing can be a brilliant default, but it may also lock clients into exposures they’d never knowingly choose, especially if they haven’t been shown what sits inside major indices.

But the heart of this episode goes beyond fund selection. Cleona brings an unusually human perspective to financial planning, describing how fear, procrastination and money anxiety can derail even high-net-worth clients—sometimes leaving life-changing sums sitting in cash. Her approach draws on practices more commonly found in therapy rooms than investment committees: values-led conversations, “shadow work”, somatic awareness, and tools like Internal Family Systems to navigate internal conflict.

You’ll also hear why Cleona has practised 10-day silent meditation retreats, and how calm nervous system regulation can become a professional advantage, especially when markets fall and clients need steadiness more than spreadsheets.

If you’re a financial planner, paraplanner, or ethically-minded investor trying to make sense of sustainable finance in a messy world, this episode offers both challenge and reassurance: you don’t have to “force” change but you can design conditions where better choices become easier.

Listen in and consider sharing this episode with someone who believes finance can be a force for good, but isn’t sure where to start.

About Cleona

Cleona Lira is a UK financial planner and the founder of Conscious Money, where she helps clients align their financial decisions with their values without losing sight of good planning fundamentals. Known for championing ethical and sustainable investing, Cleona brings a candid perspective on the realities of ESG, regulatory change, and the practical trade-offs hidden inside “mainstream” investing approaches.

What sets Cleona apart is her focus on the human side of money. Alongside portfolios and tax planning, she explores how fear, procrastination and long-held beliefs can shape financial behaviour, sometimes keeping clients stuck for years. Her work draws on approaches such as values-based planning, somatic awareness, and psychological tools designed to help people make clearer, calmer decisions.