NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Thursday, November 15, 2018

One in eight organizations does not currently invest in sustainable investing strategies but plans to begin in 2019, according to a recent survey.

The SEI Nonprofit Management Research Panel polled 105 organizations in October, including 75 that were nonprofits, and 30 others representing corporate, union or government retirement plans as part of the Institutional Investors Sustainable Investing Survey 2018.

Half of those surveyed do not currently invest in environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategies compared with 38 percent that do and the 12 percent that plan to begin in 2019. Concerns about performance (60 percent) and the difficulty in evaluating investment products and strategies (53 percent) were the most common issues cited in preventing organizations from pursuing sustainable investments.

Photo courtesy of Sudipto Sarkar.