Almost one in three (28 per cent) of UK investors say environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations are important when making investment decisions, according to a new data.
However IG’s latest investor sentiment survey shows that this figure remains low compared to international comparisons, with 42 per cent of Australian investors and 40 per cent of Japanese ones citing ESG as an important factor.
The survey also found that in the UK female investors are much more likely to be concerned about ESG issues. 23 per cent of female clients cited this as important compared to just 9 per cent of men.
This survey comes as research by the Financial Times four that sustainable investments grew by 15 per cent from 2020 to 2022. In total 36 per cent of professionally managed assets across the US, Canada, Japan, Australasia, and Europe are now deemed ESG assets.
Meanwhile Google keyword data showed that in the past year, searches for ‘sustainable investing’ were up 83 per cent, indicating a growing interest in the strategy.
According, to IG’s Ethical Performance Index (EPI), American multinational company ManpowerGroup ranks first, with an EPI-score of 2.6 out of 3, followed by the Irish American company Accenture, with an EPI-score of 2.5
It also found that US tech giant Apple topped the table of LGBTQ+ friendly investing. The company, which ranked fourth on Fortune 500’s annual list in 2022, has an internal resource group and platform for its employees named pride@Apple.
