Global Sustainable Investments Rise 34 Percent to $30.7 Trillion
(Bloomberg) -- Global socially responsible investments grew by 34 percent to $30.7 trillion over the past two years, lifted by Japanese pension funds, retail investors everywhere and broad, growing concern about climate change.
Europe remains the biggest region for sustainable investors with about $14 trillion devoted to these strategies, up 11 percent from 2016, according to the biennial report from the Global Sustainable Investment Alliance, which aggregates data from regional sustainable investment groups around the world.
Other markets, while smaller, are growing faster. Japan saw the biggest jump, with assets in sustainable strategies up fourfold to $2.2 trillion. They now represent 18 percent of the professionally managed money in the market, up from just 3 percent two years ago. The country's corporate governance code overhaul in the past few years has encouraged focus in this area and the 150.7 trillion yen ($1.4 trillion) Government Pension Investment Fund signed the United Nations-backed Principles for Responsible Investment in 2015.
Money managers around the globe said clients were increasingly asking for sustainable strategies and that climate change became a leading issue for investors this year. Retail investors bought up more ethical funds, according to the report, and now account for about 25 percent of assets, up from 20 percent in 2016.
So-called negative screening, where investors rule out one or more specific categories of investments, such as tobacco, gambling or fossil fuels, remains the most popular strategy. Nearly two out of every three dollars -- $19.8 trillion in total -- were invested this way in 2018, the group said.
Issues often overlap. Investors who integrate environment, social and governance principles into their portfolios, now represent about $17.5 trillion, up 69 percent from 2016. Assets that focus on corporate engagement and shareholder activism around environmental and social issues rose to $9.8 trillion in 2018, up from $8.4 trillion.
To contact the reporter on this story: Emily Chasan in New York at echasan1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Janet Paskin at jpaskin@bloomberg.net
©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
-
Unhedged Position | Blue Wave Will Derail the AI Trade but Won't Dismantle the AI Era
The Democrats' sweep of the US Congress will see politics collide with economic forces both over the long and short term.
-
It's Time To Take The GST Council's Bet On Trust Global
Payment records can prove India's services exports, and clear, proportionate rules can bring foreign digital sellers into the tax net.
-
Opinion | India at 38: From Innovation Overperformer to Innovation Powerhouse
India now has 453 VC-backed deep science startups, 18 of them late-stage, after 117 percent growth since 2020. Laurus Labs, at USD 9.3 billion, is the most valuable deep science company in any middle-income economy outside China.
-
Navigating Energy Crossroads: S Jaishankar's Call For Diversified Supply Chains At G20 Ministerial Meeting
As geopolitical fault lines continue to test maritime trade routes and commodity flows, Jaishankar's message remains pertinent: true economic resilience requires open markets, protected transit lines, and a genuine commitment to multilateral cooperation rather than coercion.
-
Indians Are Travelling, But Not Every Journey Is A Holiday | The Week In Whys
Pilgrims, patients and working women are the real travellers, and the system hasn't quite caught up with them.
-
Getting To Work Costs Women More | The Reason Why
It is not just about women paying more than men. It is about women paying much more in cities than in villages.
-
AI Bias In Investing Cannot Be Eliminated, But It Can Be Governed
Framing is a particularly important example as identical financial information presented in terms of gains rather than losses can lead an LLM to reach a different assessment.
-
Joining The Dots | Dark Skies, Steady Diya: Why Hope Holds This Diwali
With war, a weak rupee and foreign outflows weighing on sentiment, policymakers at the NDTV World Summit and market veterans at NDTV Profit Ignite: Diwali Edition offered the same advice: stay invested and filter out the noise.
-
The Curious Case of Equitas Small Finance Bank And A CEO Who Quit For Stock
PN Vasudevan believes persistent investor concerns over a perceived conflict of interest had become a governance overhang on Equitas Small Finance Bank's stock, even as the lender improved profitability and asset quality.
