UK pension professionals remain strongly in favour of impact investing despite global anti-ESG sentiment, according to the Society of Pension Professionals (SPP).
At an SPP event attended by more than 100 industry representatives, 84 per cent said pension schemes should consider societal and environmental impact alongside financial returns. Just 9 per cent disagreed while 7 per cent were unsure.
Delegates were also asked about the biggest barriers to impact investing. A lack of credible data was cited by 32 per cent, followed by governance constraints at 27 per cent. Meanwhile, reporting fatigue and concerns over investment underperformance were cited by 19 per cent while only 3 per cent pointed to member or stakeholder opposition.
SPP investment committee member and UK head of responsible investment at Aon and chair of this SPP event Craig Campbell says: “Despite a reported backlash against ESG, these results are yet further proof that the UK pensions industry takes impact investing seriously, with an impressive 84 per cent of pension professionals indicating that ESG considerations should be taken into account alongside financial returns.
“There remain barriers to investing but these are not insurmountable as data on ESG continues to improve, governance constraints are increasingly addressed and member opposition is evidently limited.”