Highlights:
– wealth & investment firms are not ESG-ready yet
– client demand is the top ESG driver
– total portfolio approach will discriminate leaders from laggards for returns and client engagement

Objectway, a leader in the Digital Wealth & Asset Management software, released the survey report “Are you ready for ESG?”, revealing a glimpse of the market on ESG investments, one of the greatest areas of change that wealth firms expect. A field that the crisis triggered by the pandemic has highlighted as playing a crucial role in economic recovery, in addition to the importance of establishing efficient risk management.

The report is based on the results of the web-based survey that Objectway conducted in March 2021, and filled in by UK and European Wealth & Investment Management firms. The sample of opinion leaders was composed by 70% of small-medium businesses and 30% of large enterprises.

The survey report investigated what stage is reached in terms of ESG integration within a risk aware investment process, and its implications on the digital experience.

Firms seem to be not properly ESG ready yet, with only 39% of respondents who has already implemented a specific ESG policy, while 22% lacking a policy and 39% in progress of developing it. Early adopters that are integrating ESG in their strategy will then have a competitive advantage. This benefit will be reflected both in terms of client engagement and of higher efficiency and returns. Investors see ESG as a real differentiator between firms. Many would consider to leave their wealth manager, based on the quality of their ESG offering and how it is delivered to them. Coherently, 45% of respondents affirmed that ESG are primarily adopted to satisfy clients’ requests, proving that now more than ever ESG is at the top of their priorities. When asked if the investment process was supported by a fully integrated platform, just 7% answered positively, while a remarkable 87% declared they do not have a vertically integrated risk management solution.

The full survey report is available for download here: objectway.com/insights/