One in three UK investors prioritise sustainability over returns

A third of UK adults would prioritise ethical or sustainable investments even if it meant lower returns, according to new analysis from Rathbones.

The wealth and asset management group polled over 3,000 UK adults and found this view was most common among those aged between 30 and 44 years old, with over half (56 per cent) of respondents in this age group saying sustainable investing is their priority.

Support fell progressively across older age groups to just 18 per in the over-65s age group for whom ethics were the priority.

Rathbones also found in its research that women placed slightly more importance on how ethical their investments are compared to men, at 33 per cent vs 29 per cent. More broadly, the findings suggested that the wealthier someone is, the more likely they were to prefer investments to be sustainable.

Head of sustainability for Rathbones Asset Management, David Harrison, commented: “This response highlights the appeal ethical and sustainable investment strategies continue to offer for many investors and the importance of values-based options in the market.

“We believe that ethical and sustainable strategies allow consumers to generate strong long-term risk adjusted returns without sacrificing their core values. We continue to see growing demand for sustainable investment strategies globally and expect this trend to remain consistent going forward.”

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