Young investors want ESG screening


Young investors are more than twice as likely than their older counterparts to want their investments screened based on environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors by their wealth management providers.
That was the finding from from Scorpio Partnership and FactSet, whose data revealed a measured difference in attitudes between younger and older investors, with only 29 per cent of those 55 and over wanting ESG screening on their investments.
Slightly more investors in the 35-54 age bracket (53 per cent) were in favour of ESG screening, while a total of 61 per cent of those under 35 rated themselves ‘expectant' of receiving it.
Meanwhile, nearly half of investors in the eldest bracket said it was ‘nice but not essential' to have socially responsible investments, compared to 27 per cent in the middle bracket and only 15 per cent of the youngest group.
As younger investors grew in numbers, BNP Paribas estimated that the amount of ESG screening in the wealth management industry would grow steadily to accommodate new desires.
A similar number of respondents — 23, 20 and 24 per cent respectively from youngest to eldest — identified themselves as ‘apathetic' toward socially responsible portfolios.
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