Our latest research, uncovers the views of more than 300 institutional investors and world-leading institutions, revealing what is driving organizations to adopt ESG and the barriers that must be overcome to deliver the best outcomes.
ESG may well be becoming a mainstream trend, but every institutional investor faces a unique mix of forces pushing them towards, or barriers pulling them away from, ESG investing.
Once an uncertainty for many investors, the fiduciary duty aspect of ESG is now very clear, with 46% of respondents seeing it as the key driver.
Also at 46%, the other leading driver for many is regulation. It is clear that regulation will increasingly shape future adoption, particularly on topics such as climate.
At 44%, mitigation of ESG risk comes in a very close second, with many investors now realizing the danger that ignoring ESG entails.
The current state of ESG data — single sourced, low correlation and confusing terminology — is the main factor hindering adoption.
Internal resource constraints loom large when it comes to ESG adoption and implementation across asset classes. Every single investor surveyed has plans to employ more ESG resource.
Allied to resource constraint, for nearly 40% of respondents a lack of expertise in integrating ESG was a key hindrance factor.
In mid-2019 State Street Global Advisors surveyed senior executives with asset allocation responsibilities at over 300 institutions. They included private and public pension funds, endowments, foundations and official institutions. Respondents are directly involved in or influence asset allocation decisions.
The survey was conducted by a combination of telephone interviews and online. The results were analyzed and collated and comprehensively supplemented by a series of in-depth interviews with senior institutional investment professionals.
As our survey shows regulatory, stakeholder and other environmental drivers are increasingly making the need to find the right ESG investments solutions an urgent one. But we also know that performance is key to the right ESG solution, so we’ve developed the tools and solutions to help you meet your ESG and performance goals.
Proud signatories of the UNPRI, rated A+ for our firmwide strategy and governance of ESG investments and a leader in ESG investing for 30+ years, today we are integrating ESG directly into our investment processes. We have a full suite of ESG products to help meet your objectives.
Discover how we can help you get your ESG strategy right.