Climate action is the No. 1 sustainable investing priority for investors, according to a new survey from the U.S. Sustainable Investment Forum Foundation.
In the 15th edition of its Report on U.S. Sustainable Investing Trends, the forum documents the reported $6.5 trillion in total U.S. sustainable investment assets under management recorded at the beginning of 2024.
That total represents 12% of the $52.5 trillion in total U.S. market assets determined by SIF in an analysis of SEC submissions.
The report used answers from 265 respondents to a survey conducted between May and August, as well as investor data, public reporting and a partnership with SDGlabs.ai that “identified a baselines measure, which serve as a snapshot of the current market, enabling future comparisons and helping guide how stakeholders interpret the data. This methodology creates a foundation for consistent tracking moving forward,” according to a news release Dec. 18.
The analyzed data shows that climate action is the No. 1 sustainable investing priority for investors.
“Investor interest in capturing the opportunity of the climate transition remains a huge opportunity for the industry,” said Maria Lettini, CEO of US SIF, in the news release. “Broader global market trends such as regulatory obligations, evolving client preferences, the transfer of intergenerational wealth and the growing frequency and severity of financially material physical and transition risks associated with climate change are certainly contributing to investors’ interest.“
While 73% of respondents expect the sustainable market to grow over the next two years, only 39% expect their own organizations to heighten their own sustainable investing.
When asked for the leading trends in sustainable investing (multiple answers were permitted), 69% of respondents said the evolution of policies and regulations, while 65% said a focus on artificial intelligence and data analytics; 58% said the expansion of impact investing; 51%, the development of market standards; and 42% said the growth in subfields of sustainable investing.
US SIF received responses from 265 executives at entities including institutional investors such as money managers and asset owners, community development institutions, consulting firms, foundations and endowments, wealth management and financial advisers, faith-based institutions and government agencies.