Elements of ESG investing

Elements of ESG investing
  • Investment Insights
  • 2 minute read

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing is an investment theme which has been on everyone’s radar in recent years, becoming the catch-all term for responsible investing. But it’s actually quite a specific proposition – each element has a distinct focus, and investors feel differently about each component part.

When asked about some statements which relate closely to the ESG world, investors chose from a range of ‘strongly agree’ to ‘strongly disagree’. 

Investors who strongly agree with the following statements:

Investors chose between strongly agree, slightly agree, neither agree nor disagree, slightly disagree or strongly disagree.

It’s clear that the majority of investors care about a range of ESG concerns, but what’s more interesting is how many strongly agree with certain elements.

The detail reveals that it’s unfair to assume that ‘ESG’ means ‘green’ – in fact, looking at causes investors feel strongly about, avoiding fossil fuels comes out as a far lower priority than employee health and safety, or modern slavery legislation.

ESG is not only the domain of the millennials – across the board, older investors are more likely to strongly advocate for these statements, especially around climate change, recycling, and modern slavery. There’s very little gender discrepancy, and only around 10% of investors disagreed with any of the statements.

Personal financial planning

Explore the full results of the Responsible investing survey 2021

Source: Close Brothers Asset Management, Responsible investing survey 2021 - which included over 2,000 clients at Close Brothers Asset Management.

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