Opalesque, Laxman Pai, Opalesque Asia: Friday, December 04, 2020
Investors plan to double their sustainable assets in the next five years, rising from 18% of assets under management on average today to 37% by 2025, said a survey.
According to BlackRock’s Global Client Sustainable Investing Survey of the asset manager, 20% of its 425 respondents across 27 countries, representing $25 trillion in collective assets under management said the COVID-19 pandemic would accelerate their sustainable investing allocations.
Further, 20% of respondents said the pandemic would accelerate allocations to sustainable investments.
Three-quarters of respondents said they used or would consider an integrated approach to account for environmental, social, and governance (ESG) risks in their portfolios.
54% of global respondents consider sustainable investing to be fundamental to investment processes and outcomes, driven by respondents in EMEA where we see greater rates of adoption. Respondents in APAC and the Americas appear to be in the early stages of this journey.
Respondents plan to double their sustainable assets under management in the next five years – rising from 18% of assets under management on average today to 37% on average by 2025. Only 3% of respondents expect to delay their implementation as a result of COVID-19.
53% of global respondents cited the poor quality or availability of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) data and analytics as to the biggest barrier to deeper or broader implementation of sustainable investing, higher than any other barrier that we tested.
When comparing focus on ESG factors, 88% of global respondents ranked Environment as the priority most in focus amongst those choices today, reflecting the urgency that is present by climate change.
ESG Integration and Exclusionary Screens are the two most popular approaches to sustainable investing globally, with 75% and 65% of global respondents, respectively, currently utilizing or considering utilizing these approaches.
While equity allocations are and will likely continue to remain a central part of respondents’ sustainable asset allocation frameworks, they expressed increasing interest in sustainable fixed income and alternatives asset classes.
