Responsible Investing (RI) constituted $866 billion Assets Under Management (AUM), up 39 percent from $622 billion in 2016, as at 31 December 2017. The survey found that over 55 percent of all funds professionally managed in Australia are managed under a RI strategy. These are some of the findings from the Responsible Investment Benchmark Report 2018.
The Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA), in conjunction with KPMG, have released a report detailing industry data on the Australian Responsible Investment (RI) market. The 17th annual Australian Responsible Investment Benchmark Report 2018 reinforces that a responsible approach to investing – one that systematically considers environmental, social and governance (ESG) and/or ethical factors across the entire portfolio – is the expected minimum standard of good investment practice in Australia.
The biggest driver of growth in the RI sector is the increasing realisation that ESG integration is linked to improved investment performance, as identified by 44 percent of investment managers.
"One of the key detractors to RI growth has been the perception that RI options underperform the wider market. This report indicates that this is not the case – there is no need to sacrifice performance when investing responsibly. Instead the opposite appears true, with RI driving long-term sustainable value and outperforming equivalent funds." Mark Spicer
"It’s been a slow burn over the past decade, but now ESG is considered an important part of investing well. In the past couple of years it’s really accelerated because we have just seen how relevant these non-financial considerations have become to share price movements." Simon O’Connor |