Nuveen Releases Responsible Investing Survey

7th Edition of Responsible Investing Report

Nuveen, an international asset management company, recently released the seventh edition of the survey report on responsible investing, showing investors’ views towards responsible investment. The sharp fluctuations in the global stock and debt markets in 2022 did not dampen investors’ enthusiasm for responsible investment, but rather increased their thoughts to reduce the volatility of the asset portfolio through this way.

Investors also have opinions on the asset allocation, application field, actual effect, and information disclosure of responsible investment, and put forward new requirements for asset management companies.

Asset Allocation of Responsible Investment

In terms of asset allocation of responsible investment, investors believe that:

1. Most investors have heard about responsible investment (87%) and are familiar with it (62%);
2. Investors choose to obtain responsible investment advice from asset management companies (89%), followed by their own research (65%);
3. The most important reason for choosing responsible investment is the desire to obtain higher return (48%), followed by the opinion of asset management companies (42%), and the desire to reduce the risk of investment portfolio (38%);
4. Investors believe responsible investment should become a long-term investment strategy (80%);

Application Field of Responsible Investment

In terms of the application field of responsible investment, investors believe that:

1. Although the market is facing more uncertainty, responsible investment also needs to become a part of investment decision-making (76%), and young investors are more optimistic about responsible investment (92%);
2. Responsible investment can help reduce the risk of asset portfolio (68%). It is different from traditional financial analysis, and it can obtain the satisfactory result of investors (79%);
3. Climate risk is the risk that investors want to reduce mostly when they choose responsible investment (28%), and they expect only those listed companies with net zero roadmaps to be considered in responsible investment (57%);

Actual Effect of Responsible Investment

In terms of the actual effect of responsible investment, investors believe that:

1. Responsible investment needs to show investors the actual effect on the environment and society (70%). At present, it is difficult to see the effect of responsible investment (55% of the holders of the responsible portfolio);
2. If the actual effect of responsible investment can be clearly seen, investors will consider continuing to increase investment to responsible investment(84%);
3. Investors want asset management companies to participate in disclosing actual effect (63%);

Information Disclosure of Responsible Investment

In terms of information disclosure of responsible investment, investors believe that:

1. Asset management companies with more experience in responsible investment are more popular with investors (78%), and companies that can clearly disclose relevant information to investors are more popular (73%);
2. Asset management companies should provide investors with appropriate tools and information to obtain the actual effect of responsible investment (41%), and also need to provide investors with more risk and return information (81%);
3. The social dimension of ESG (S) needs to be considered more in the future(69%);

Nuveen’s View on the Report

Nuveen believes that the market environment with increased volatility makes investors relying on responsible investment to reduce risks, and hope to better understand how responsible investment affects society and the environment as well as governance.

In addition, the proportion of investors in independent investment research is increasing, and they hope to reflect their views in the investment. Higher requirements are put forward for asset management companies in terms of information disclosure and actual effects.

Reference:

7th Annual Responsible Investing Survey | Nuveen

Development of responsible investment: According to the official data in 2021, more than 4000 financial institutions around the world have signed responsible investment agreements, and the management scale of these institutions exceeds 120 trillion US dollars.

United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment