This is a case in point: it takes a long time to achieve a paradigm shift.
A report by RBC Royal Bank and its asset management division looked at how global investors are shifting the way they assess a potential asset for their portfolios.
They surveyed institutional investors primarily…these are the big money managers but it is a proxy for how their unit holders are feeling.
What they found is that ESG or Environmental, Social and Governance issues are growing in importance in investment choices for investors in most parts of the world, including Canada. This is a topic that has been around for decades – with concepts such as a Triple Bottom Line or Ethical Investing.
And after years of pushing for them, they have gone from the minority position to mainstream. In Canada, Europe and Asia virtually all managers felt an ESG-inclusive portfolio would do better than one without. Only the US was seeing this head the other direction.
Globally, the top concern that investors are trying to mitigate with these investment choices is corruption followed closely by climate change and shareholder
