2021 ESG Survey | Executive Summary
On the 2nd of August 2022, MiFID and sustainability regulations will require European financial advisors to discuss sustainability preferences with their clients. A new Nordea Asset Management survey found that despite 71% of investors planning to increase their ESG allocation over the next year, 62% have not received an ESG proposal from their financial advisor in the past 12 months. We gathered the views of 1,200 European individual investors from Germany, Spain, Italy, France and Switzerland. All survey participants currently use a financial advisor. The findings suggest that many financial advisors have not yet fully embraced the ESG opportunity in the context of the upcoming regulation.
Are advisors ready for the MiFID and ESG challenge?
- 89% consider sustainability a challenging issue for society
- 77% believe their investment decision could make a difference in creating a more sustainable society
- 69% are aware that challenges around sustainability can impact their investments
- 76% have increased their ESG investment in the past 12 months
- 72% are satisfied with the performance of their ESG investment
- 71% plan to increase their ESG allocation over the next 12 months
- 63% consider global warming to be their primary concern
- 55% believe climate change will be the most investable megatrend over the next 5 years
- 45% of Gen Zs selected human rights as the most investable megatrend over the next 5 years (only 34% chose climate change)
- 73% identified their advisor as their main source of ESG information
- 96% of investors trust that advisors know about ESG
- 62% has never received an ESG proposal from their advisor. With new changes to MiFID II coming into force next year, this is a huge opportunity
- 39% of clients surveyed identified a lack of knowledge and expertise as the greatest hurdle to ESG investing
- 81% say they need clearer and simpler explanation of ESG products
- 73% want new ESG products which, according to the new regulations, must be MiFID-eligible
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