FTSE Russell survey: 84% of asset owners say they incorporate sustainability into investment decisions

FTSE Russell's survey of 402 asset owners found 84% incorporate sustainability into investment decisions, up from 73% a year earlier and just below the 86% recorded in 2022.

Net Zero Investor reported the findings on 7 October, based on respondents spanning pension funds, government-backed funds, endowments, insurers and family offices worldwide.

The survey also found 86% of asset owners rated climate risk seven or higher out of ten as an investment risk, up from 50% in 2023. A quarter scored it ten, according to Lee Clements, FTSE Russell's director of applied sustainable investing research.

Clements said the findings suggest “some of the more definitive claims that ‘ESG is dead’ were an overreaction.” He credited maturing data and methodologies and a more entrenched view of sustainability's financial materiality. Geopolitical pressure on energy security and the energy transition, along with record temperatures and extreme weather, had kept physical climate risk relevant, he said.

The survey records how asset owners describe their process, while Net Zero Investor noted that investment flows have yet to follow.