Less than a third of investment community members have either attended an ESG-focused conference or participated in an ESG-focused conference call in the past 12 months. This is true in every region, although 28 percent of North American investors have participated in an ESG-focused conference call, notably more than in Europe or Asia. Sell-side analysts are the least likely to participate in these activities: 89 percent neither attended an ESG conference nor participated in an ESG conference call in the past year. The buy side is more likely to engage in ESG, with 29 percent of buy-side analysts having participated in an ESG-focused conference call and 28 percent of fund managers having attended an ESG-focused conference in the past year. The majority of the global investment community would rather see ESG reported as part of an integrated report, although this preference is primarily on the buy side. Most North American investors would rather see a separate ESG/sustainability report. Overall, less than a quarter of investors frequently take account of ESG ratings in their investment decisions, while 22 percent say they rarely take them into account and 18 percent say they never do. North American investors are the most divergent in their ESG considerations, with the highest number saying they mostly or often take ratings into account, while at the same time having the highest number that rarely or never consider ESG ratings in their investment decisions. Again, it is the sell side that has the least interest in ESG: just 9 percent of respondents say they frequently take ESG ratings into account, while almost two thirds rarely or never do. In contrast, more fund managers (31 percent) mostly or often consider ESG ratings in their investment decisions than rarely or never do (30 percent).
Have you participated in an ESG-focused conference or conference call over the last 12 months?
How often do you take account of ESG ratings in your investment decisions?
