Global sustainable assets hit $30.7 trillion in 2018 – report
Skip to main content
pilogo-NEW
Subscribe
  • Subscribe
  • My Account
  • login
  • NEWS
    • Asset owners and the coronavirus
    • Alternatives
    • Consultants
    • Coronavirus
    • Defined Contribution
    • ESG
    • Frontlines
    • Hedge Funds
    • Investing / Portfolio Strategies
    • Money Management
    • Pension Funds
    • People Moves
    • Private Equity
    • Real Estate
    • Searches & Hires News
    • SECURE Act
    • Special Reports
    • WorldPensionSummit
    • Ron Schmitz
      Pandemic drives faster transition for Virginia to private markets
      Mubadala Investment Co. logo
      Mubadala draws on portfolio in coronavirus fight
      T.J. Carlson
      Texas Muni reduces downside risk during pandemic, finding opportunities now
      Scott Davis
      ‘Triage plan’ at Indiana system helped stem losses
    • Comvest closes credit fund at $1.3 billion
      Wall Street signage in the Financial District of New York
      Assets in alternative investments set record in 2020
      Non-profit questions dividend recapitalization play at Ares portfolio company
      Walker & Dunlop appoints managing director
    • Philip Pearson
      Hymans Robertson chooses head of LGPS investment
      Daniel Celeghin
      Indefi hires New York-based managing partner
      Hub International continues buying spree with IBG acquisition
      Callan brings on 2 executives
    • Pandemic takes toll on real estate fundraising in 2020
      Swedish flags fly from a tourist souvenir shop in Gamla Stan in Stockholm on March 26, 2020
      Systematic hedge fund IPM to shutter after ‘lackluster’ performance, outflows
      Insurers taking on more portfolio risk as pandemic ebbs – survey
      American flags outside the New York Stock Exchange
      Stock shorts collapse as no hedge fund wants ‘head ripped off’
    • Comfortable retirement still on track for most Americans despite pandemic – survey
      Pentegra joins with EPIC to offer 3(16) fiduciary services
      Interest rises in keeping retiree assets in-plan
      Joseph Healy
      Smaller DC plans place greater focus on improving financial wellness efforts
    • CDPQ boosts low-carbon assets to 10% of portfolio
      White House sets ambitious goal for greenhouse gas emissions by 2030
      Yale rolls out 5 principles for endowment on fossil-fuel investing
      Pension funds hear from beneficiaries on ESG – report
    • Riscura stories
      Dystopian tales explore altered retirement reality
      Joel Holsinger
      Ares wants to do good – and profit – with fund
      Girls Who Invest
      MetLife plans 3 internships for Girls Who Invest scholars
      Model home
      Resmark sees niche in buying, leasing model homes
    • Swedish flags fly from a tourist souvenir shop in Gamla Stan in Stockholm on March 26, 2020
      Systematic hedge fund IPM to shutter after ‘lackluster’ performance, outflows
      Karen Karniol-Tambour
      Bridgewater appoints 2 co-CIOs to oversee new sustainable investing group
      Hedge funds post best first-quarter return since 2000
      Jason Kephart
      Managers see good times ahead in 2021
    • The seal of the Securities and Exchanges Commission at the agency's headquarters in Washington
      SEC said to review fund disclosure rules after Archegos rout
      Trillium hires 2 to lead expansion into U.K.
      CDPQ boosts low-carbon assets to 10% of portfolio
      White House sets ambitious goal for greenhouse gas emissions by 2030
    • Blackstone AUM climbs 4.9% in latest quarter
      Trillium hires 2 to lead expansion into U.K.
      Credit Suisse logo
      Credit Suisse expects further hit from Archegos scandal
      Bill Hench
      First Eagle gives wing to small-cap equity team with liftout from Royce
    • Denmark’s ATP plans bid to build North Sea energy island
      PennPSERS taps Verus for oversight consulting services amid probe
      State pension plan funding advances in first quarter – Wilshire
      Sacramento County Employees rebalances equity, fixed-income portfolios
    • Trillium hires 2 to lead expansion into U.K.
      Walker & Dunlop appoints managing director
      Bill Hench
      First Eagle gives wing to small-cap equity team with liftout from Royce
      Philip Pearson
      Hymans Robertson chooses head of LGPS investment
    • EQT closes latest private equity fund at $18.7 billion
      U.S. $100 bills
      AlpInvest raises $3.5 billion for latest co-investment fund
      ILPA members making diversity a bigger priority in private equity
      European private equity deal value, volume hit records for first quarter
    • Pandemic takes toll on real estate fundraising in 2020
      J. Tomlinson Hill
      Two Sigma takes quant expertise into real estate investing
      BentallGreenOak closes latest European fund at $2.3 billion
      Cohen & Steers adds team for new private real estate business
    • Andy Schreiner
      New PEPs targeting firms without retirement plans
      Jackie Walorski
      Contribution catch-up for caregivers gaining favor
      Neal and Brady
      Retirement security could be only issue both sides accept
      Retirement cartoon
      Hopes rising for retirement readiness in 2021
    • A coin representing Bitcoin cryptocurrency in the U.K.
      Cryptocurrency and digital assets
      Corporate pension contributions
      Eddy Awards 2021
      COVID-19: One year in
    • U.S. still a key market for investors
      Collected coverage of P&I's 2020 WorldPensionSummit
      Pedestrians pass a large advertisement on the Arndale Center shopping mall reading 'Act now to avoid a local lockdown' in Manchester, England
      COVID-19 puts new opportunities and risks on the agenda - WPS panelists
      Screens display stock price information over the trading floor of the NYSE Euronext exchange in Paris
      Private assets will continue to grow in portfolios – WPS panelists
  • Data
    • Research Center
    • Searches & Hires Database
    • Searches & Hires News
    • RFPs
    • Charts / Infographics
    • Sponsored Research
    • Trackers
    • Q2 2020 searches and hires overview report
      Q2 2020 money manager M&A activity summary
      Q2 2020 legal overview report
      Q1 2020 searches and hires overview report
    • Orange County Employees commits $55 million to 2 buyout funds
      Alexandria, Va., scouting for DB and DC plan consultants
      Gresham, Ore., hunting for 457 plan consultant
      San Joaquin County casts net for core bond managers
    • Orange County Employees commits $55 million to 2 buyout funds
      Alexandria, Va., scouting for DB and DC plan consultants
      Gresham, Ore., hunting for 457 plan consultant
      San Joaquin County casts net for core bond managers
    • Emerging Market Debt Manager Services
      Real Assets Consultant
      Passive Investment Management Services
      Active Extended Global Credit Manager Search
    • High-yield spreads narrow, default rates drop
      Private real estate funds continue rebound
      Managed account adoption stalls in 2020
      U.S. bonds have worst quarterly return since 1981
    • Institutional Investors: Shared Expectations, Divergent Paths
      Global Investor Study 2016
      Workplace Financial Wellness
    • U.S. Endowment Returns Tracker
      Pension Fund Returns Tracker
      Earnings Tracker
      Corporate Pension Contribution Tracker
  • Insights
    • Opinion
    • White Papers
    • Industry Voices
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Partner Content
    • Publisher's Update
    • Marcie Frost
      CalPERS: Urgency underscores all areas of providing retirement security
      BPTW cartoon
      P&I’s Best Places to Work marking a milestone
      CalPERS cartoon
      Urgency underscores CalPERS' search for a CIO
      Multiemployer plans cartoon
      Money — but no fixes — for multiemployer plans
    • Bipsync Client Stories: RMS in Action at Pensions and Superannuation Funds
      COVID-19 Makes LP Portfolio Management More Important Than Ever
      China: the outlook is bright for longer-term investors
      Finding Differentiation in Securitized Assets
    • John Bakarat
      Commentary: COVID-19 and real estate debt – where investors should be looking
      Jake Remley
      Commentary: Inflation expectations vs. reality in the bond market
      Greg Shea and Steven Kindred
      Commentary: The solution for yield-seeking allocators may be hiding in plain sight
      Jim Park
      Commentary: Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders face ‘bamboo ceiling’ in money management
    • Marcie Frost
      CalPERS: Urgency underscores all areas of providing retirement security
      Writer using a typewriter
      OCIO industry needs to adopt GIPS
      Writer or journalist workplace. stock illustration
      Even as it assails China, Trump administration emulates it
      Skeptical of Main Street support for proxy adviser proposal
    • P&I Content Solutions
      Research for Institutional Money Management
      P&I Content Solutions
      Top questions for institutional investors
      Sponsored Content By Newton Investment Management
      Growth and Innovation in Emerging Markets
      P&I Content Solutions
      In Challenging Markets, Systematic Global Macro Strategies Could Hold Opportunity
    • Help us help you by supporting quality journalism
      You Must Believe in Spring
      Everything Must Change
      Tomatoes & Investments
  • Multimedia
    • Videos
    • Webinars
    • Polls
    • Slideshows
    • Charts / Infographics
    • Invesco logo shown on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange
      watch video
      1:28
      Invesco’s bid for performance gains
      watch video
      1:23
      The passive fixed-income glut
      watch video
      1:38
      Is it time for DC plans to embrace private equity?
      watch video
      5:39
      The coronavirus pandemic: One year later
    • New Outlook on Income: A Framework for Evaluating DC Retirement Income Solutions
      Investing in infrastructure at the right price
      Time for Action: Shifting Pension Dynamics from a Macro and Regulatory Relief Perspective
      Understanding the PEP Evolution
    • POLL: Cryptocurrency investing
      POLL: The Biden infrastructure plan
      POLL: Retirement income solutions
      POLL: Working after the pandemic
    • view gallery
      9 photos
      Coronavirus and the markets
      view gallery
      22 photos
      The 1,000 largest retirement funds: 2020
      view gallery
      10 photos
      Outlook 2020
      view gallery
      10 photos
      2019 as seen through the eyes of Roger
    • High-yield spreads narrow, default rates drop
      By the Numbers for April 2021
      Graphic: The state of DC plans
  • Events
    • Conferences
    • Webinars
    • DC Investment Lineup Virtual Series
      ESG Investing Virtual Series
      Private Markets Virtual Series
      Retirement Income Conference
    • New Outlook on Income: A Framework for Evaluating DC Retirement Income Solutions
      Investing in infrastructure at the right price
      Time for Action: Shifting Pension Dynamics from a Macro and Regulatory Relief Perspective
      Understanding the PEP Evolution
  • Careers
  • Research Center
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. ESG
April 01, 2019 01:00 AM

Global sustainable assets hit $30.7 trillion in 2018 – report

Hazel Bradford
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print
    Getty Images/iStockphoto

    Global sustainable investment assets reached $30.7 trillion at the start of 2018, with noticeable growth in Canada, the U.S. and Japan, according to the Global Sustainable Investment Review 2018 released Monday by the Global Sustainable Investment Alliance.

    The biennial report, which collates regional market studies of sustainable investment forums in Europe, the United States, Japan, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, found overall global growth of 34% from January 2016 to January 2018.

    Europe still accounts for the largest share of global sustainable investment assets at $14.1 trillion, but the amount under professional management declined to 49% from 53%. Meg Voorhes, research director at alliance member US SIF foundation, said on a press briefing call that the decline is most likely a result of stricter standards and definitions of ESG integration in Europe.

    The second largest region by assets remains the U.S., where U.S.-domiciled assets under management using sustainable strategies grew 38% to $12 trillion as of January 2018, from $8.7 trillion two years earlier.

    Japan saw the largest growth spurt in sustainable investing assets, reaching 18% in 2018 up from 3% two years earlier. That makes Japan the third-largest center for sustainable investing, with $2.2 trillion.

    In Canada, sustainable investing assets grew by 42% over the two-year period to $1.7 trillion, and now account for more than 50% of professionally managed assets there. "This is really a historical moment in our history," Dustyn Lanz, CEO of alliance member Responsible Investment Association, Canada, said on the call. He noted that a report due in May from Canada's Expert Panel on Sustainable Finance will reinforce that Canada has reached "a tipping point."

    Australia and New Zealand, with $734 billion, represent the greatest proportion of sustainable investment assets relative to total assets under management, 63%.

    For sustainable investment strategies worldwide, the largest one is negative or exclusionary screening, at $19.8 trillion of the $30.7 trillion, followed by ESG integration at $17.5 trillion, and corporate engagement or shareholder action at $9.8 trillion. The report also found that strategies vary by country, with negative screening the largest strategy in Europe, ESG integration dominating in the U.S. Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and corporate engagement and shareholder action the dominant strategy in Japan.

    The report also found that retail investors accounted for 25% of global shares of sustainable investing assets, up from 11% in 2016, as more products and platforms become available.

    Related Articles
    Global sustainable investment strategy assets up 25% in 2-year period — report
    Setting standards for responsible investing/ESG
    Commentary: The Sustainable Development Goals — a guidepost for financial trans…
    Most managers see sustainable investing as essential to thrive — survey
    EU agrees to sustainable investment disclosure framework
    White House energy infrastructure order calls for ERISA, proxy voting review
    Investors continue urging regulators for risk disclosure
    Swedish website ranks managers' investment funds on sustainability
    Standards boards to release climate-related financial disclosure recommendations
    Japan's GPIF expands ESG focus with World Bank green bonds
    Recommended for You
    CDPQ boosts low-carbon assets to 10% of portfolio
    CDPQ boosts low-carbon assets to 10% of portfolio
    White House sets ambitious goal for greenhouse gas emissions by 2030
    White House sets ambitious goal for greenhouse gas emissions by 2030
    Yale rolls out 5 principles for endowment on fossil-fuel investing
    Yale rolls out 5 principles for endowment on fossil-fuel investing
    Top questions for institutional investors
    Sponsored Content: Top questions for institutional investors
    sponsored
    Events
     
     
    Sponsored
    White Papers
    Bipsync Client Stories: RMS in Action at Pensions and Superannuation Funds
    COVID-19 Makes LP Portfolio Management More Important Than Ever
    China: the outlook is bright for longer-term investors
    Finding Differentiation in Securitized Assets
    Green and sustainable bonds in emerging markets
    Portfolio Protection: One Size Fits None
    View More
    Sponsored Content
    Partner Content
    The Industrialization of ESG Investment
    For institutional investors, ETFs can make meeting liquidity needs easier
    Gold: the most effective commodity investment
    2021 Investment Outlook | Investing Beyond the Pandemic: A Reset for Portfolios
    Ten ways retirement plan professionals add value to plan sponsors
    Gold: an efficient hedge
    View More
    E-MAIL NEWSLETTERS

    Sign up and get the best of News delivered straight to your email inbox, free of charge. Choose your news – we will deliver.

    Subscribe Today
    April 5, 2021 Page One

    Get access to the news, research and analysis of events affecting the retirement and institutional money management businesses from a worldwide network of reporters and editors.

    Subscribe
    Connect With Us
    • RSS
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • LinkedIn

    Our Mission

    To consistently deliver news, research and analysis to the executives who manage the flow of funds in the institutional investment market.

    pilogo-NEW
    About Us

    Main Office
    685 Third Avenue
    Tenth Floor
    New York, NY 10017-4036

    Chicago Office
    150 N. Michigan Ave.
    Chicago, IL 60601

    Contact Us

    Careers at Crain

    About Pensions & Investments

     

    Advertising
    • Media Kit
    • P&I Content Solutions
    • P&I Careers | Post a Job
    • Reprints & Permissions
    Resources
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
    • FAQ
    • P&I Research Center
    • Site map
    • Staff Directory
    Legal
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Request
    Pensions & Investments
    Copyright © 1996-2021. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • NEWS
      • Asset owners and the coronavirus
      • Alternatives
      • Consultants
      • Coronavirus
      • Defined Contribution
      • ESG
      • Frontlines
      • Hedge Funds
      • Investing / Portfolio Strategies
      • Money Management
      • Pension Funds
      • People Moves
      • Private Equity
      • Real Estate
      • Searches & Hires News
      • SECURE Act
      • Special Reports
      • WorldPensionSummit
    • Data
      • Research Center
      • Searches & Hires Database
      • Searches & Hires News
      • RFPs
      • Charts / Infographics
      • Sponsored Research
      • Trackers
    • Insights
      • Opinion
      • White Papers
      • Industry Voices
      • Letters to the Editor
      • Partner Content
      • Publisher's Update
    • Multimedia
      • Videos
      • Webinars
      • Polls
      • Slideshows
      • Charts / Infographics
    • Events
      • Conferences
      • Webinars
    • Careers
    • Research Center