Attractiveness level increases more slowly in Germany
Possibilities in this country are obviously less well known
The appeal of impact investing has reached a new all-time high. This is according to the fifth Impact Investing survey by global investment manager American Century Investments. Accordingly, investor interest in sustainable investment opportunities that can have a measurable, positive impact on the environment and society has never been higher. As part of the study at the end of 2021, 1,000 investors each in the USA, Great Britain, Germany and Australia were surveyed – with some surprising results. “We are seeing increasing demand across regions, generations and genders, combined with favorable economic data and a supportive political and regulatory environment, that will drive change and progress in sustainable investing in the year ahead,” summarizes Sarah Bratton Hughes, senior vice president and leader of ESG and Sustainable Investing at American Century Investments summarizes the results of the study.
Germany with pent-up demand
While 61 percent of the survey participants in the USA consider impact investing to be an attractive investment option, only 44 percent of the German respondents agree. While this is an increase on last year, when 35 percent of German respondents found the subgroup of sustainable investing attractive, Germany falls significantly compared to the approval rate in other countries: in the UK, the attractiveness of the investment form rose from 48 percent to 63 percent percent, 57 percent of Australian survey respondents agree.
American Century Investments justified the lower approval rate in Germany by saying that the number of people who answered the question about the attractiveness of the form of investment with “I don’t know” is comparatively high at 35 percent, while in the USA and Great Britain it was 17 percent and 18 percent for the Australian participant group. “Many investors don’t seem to be aware of the opportunities here,” explains Volker Buschmann of American Century Investments.
Germans keep an eye on return, risk and investment duration
The study determined that classic investment aspects such as return, risk and investment duration are disproportionately important for Germans. Only 29 percent of the German survey participants are willing to accept a loss of return if they could achieve an environmental or social impact with their investment. In the USA, meanwhile, 38 percent would accept corresponding reductions in returns – five percent more than in last year’s survey.
However, this compromise is not necessary and not the future of sustainable investments, emphasizes Sarah Bratton Hughes. “Sustainable and impact strategies have the potential to deliver superior returns coupled with social and environmental alpha,” said Bratton Hughes. “We anticipate that this alpha-plus approach will appeal to the majority of people who are either insecure or unwilling to sacrifice returns for positive impact.”
American with a focus on healthcare
Meanwhile, it is interesting how differently investors focus on impact investments. While 34 percent of respondents in the UK and Germany cite environmental issues and climate change as the top concern in the area of impact investment, and 30 percent of Australians also place the main focus here, US respondents to the survey cite healthcare and the prevention and cure of Diseases are the top reason for investing with an impact on the environment and society.
Editorial office finanzen.net
Image sources: BlackAkaliko / Shutterstock.com, maxsattana / Shutterstock.com