Key findings from Russell Investment’s 2019 ESG Manager Survey

The research team at Russell Investments recently reported the results of its 2019 Annual ESG Manager Survey.  This survey was started in 2015 – well before the industry was close to being considered mainstream – as a way to understand ESG integration into investment practice.  With over 300 asset managers participating in the 2019 survey, the research teams’ findings make it clear that ESG factors are not only becoming a commonplace but a major consideration for managers in order to gain more assets and investment opportunities.¹

This survey has a number of key findings that we want to share in this week’s blog:

• 82% of the respondents currently have a formalized ESG policy, an increase from 2018’s number – and the biggest increase in formalized policies by smaller firms, even though such firms tend to lack resources, compared with larger firms²
• Although a majority of respondent’s state ‘governance’ as the top ESG factor to impact their investment decisions, environmental and even social considerations are reasonably higher compared to the 2018 answers. This could be a reflection of asset managers making conscientious efforts to look beyond governance and trying to make an impact on climate change and social impact concerns³
• Based on overall asset base, Russell Investments finds that much of the ESG product offerings are in the earlier life cycle due to 66% of the clearly defined Responsible Investing and/or ESG offerings having an AUM of less than $1 billion⁴

^1,2,3,4 https://russellinvestments.com/-/media/files/us/insights/institutions/governance/2019-annual-esg-manager-survey-results.pdf