ESG Investing from a (Retail) Investor Point of View

ESG investment has become mainstream for institutions over the last couple of years. Sustainability reports have grown in detail and have extended besyond qualitative goals and ambitions into quantitative reports showing measurable progress on KPIs. Despite the increase in interest in ESG matters in the public domain by consumers, reflected in climate protests and concerns, this has not yet translated in consumers becoming active EGS investors themselves: retail ESG investment in 2020 was lagging with a share of 25% compared to 75% for institutional investment, despite retail investors owning 52% of global assets as per 2021. As the share of retail investments in total assets under management is expected to increase to 61% by 2030, this provides a clear opportunity for individual investors to increase their ESG awareness and interest in sustainable assets.