Performance concerns have broadly disappeared

Historically there has been some scepticism around the performance of environmental, social and governance focused funds among investors. With many thinking that taking ESG considerations into account means giving up some performance.

However, our findings show that this perception has changed, potentially influenced by the recent impressive performance of ESG funds throughout 2020.

The results of our research showed that 92% of respondents believe the performance of ESG funds would be at least equal to or better than non-ESG funds of the same risk level. There was some particularly confident countries, with 78% in Thailand and 64% in Indonesia, expecting these funds to outperform.

We also saw that younger investors, those aged 18-34, were the most confident that ESG funds would outpace non-ESG funds of the same risk level.