By Close Brothers Asset Management
In January 2021, Close Brothers Asset Management commissioned Censuswide to survey over 2,000 investors across the UK. Those surveyed had an average of £320,000 invested in a general investment account, stocks and shares ISA, self-invested personal pension or share dealing account. Here, we explore some of the key findings.
By the end of 2019, 38% of the UK’s assets under management were subject to ESG integration, which includes both pooled vehicles and segregated mandates. There was an 89% increase in investment within responsible funds in the 18 months leading to June 2020; sales for the first half of 2020 were four times higher than in the first half of 2019.¹
PwC Luxembourg predicts that by 2025, more than half of total mutual fund assets in Europe could be sitting in ESG-focused funds.²
Our research shows that this surge in demand is reflective of investors’ priorities. Only around a third (35%) of all investors identified as traditional, in that their only priority when investing is to maximise financial returns. This is truer of men than women, at 40% compared to 31%.
Investor types by priority
Clients who use an adviser are by far the most likely to want to invest responsibly, likely a result of access to increased education and insight.
It’s vital that advisers are equipped to meet that demand, by providing solutions that incorporate ethical screens at a minimum; ethical being the top priority for responsible investors.
Investor types by advice
Download the full results of the Responsible investing survey 2021 >
Capital is at risk. Investments can go down as well as up.
¹The Investment Association: UK investment management resilient in the face of headwinds, 24 September 2020.
²PwC report: The growth opportunity of the century.
