Asia behind in sustainable investments, but attitudes are changing, industry leaders say
- Sustainability a ‘slow-moving, unstoppable train’ for investor portfolios, according to Willis Towers Watson
- China to require listed companies, bond issuers to disclose environmental, social risks beginning next year
Asia lags behind Europe and other regions in constructing investment portfolios that consider environmental and social factors along with returns, despite rising demand for such products among investors globally, according to industry leaders.
But, that is beginning to change as more and more funds are shifting to so-called environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategies in Japan, and China will require listed companies and bond issuers to disclose environmental and social risks in their businesses beginning in 2020, they said.
“You, as an investor, have to account for how much good or bad sustainability is in your portfolio,” Roger Urwin, global head of investment content at global advisory and insurance firm Willis Towers Watson, said. “Sustainability, defined this way, is a very, very slow moving, but unstoppable train that is starting to pick up pace. There is no way this thing is going to turn around on itself, this is no fad.”
Urwin, who co-founded the investment research non-profit Thinking Ahead Institute, said sustainability among investment firms in Asia is “quite spotty”.
Some US$30.7 trillion was invested in sustainable and responsible investment products at the beginning of last year, with nearly half of the professionally managed investments worldwide coming from Europe, according to the 2018 Global Sustainable Investment Review.
