Sustainable investing is in vogue among wealthy Asians in the Covid-19 world even if questions linger over potential payback
- Ultra high net worth individuals in Asia show strong interest in sustainable investing, a trend accelerated by Covid-19, Lombard Odier survey shows
- However, 46 per cent of those surveyed remain sceptical that sustainability related investments would yield higher returns
Asia’s richest expect sustainable investing to accelerate after the Covid-19 pandemic, even if questions remain whether these will generate higher returns than putting money elsewhere, according to a study by Lombard Odier, one of Switzerland’s oldest private banks.
“Sustainability has been accelerated by the Covid situation, by what we are going through,” said Magnenat. “At the same time, investing in companies with an emphasis on sustainability will be a factor of higher return in the coming years.”
Lombard Odier’s report focused on four areas – technology, investment, sustainability and family services – and surveyed more than 150 UHNWIs in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore, the Philippines, Taiwan and Thailand.
Some 89 per cent of the respondents expected the trend in investment decisions linked to sustainability to stay, conveying their desire to better understand the options available to them when it came to sustainable investing.
Around 61 per cent of participants took environmental, social and governance (ESG) into account when making investment decisions.