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One of the side-effects of the Covid-19 crisis has been an increased interest in ESG investing by UK investors, a recent Aviva survey reveals.
ESG – Environmental, Social and Governance – is now the commonly-used term to describe the three main factors in measuring the sustainability and societal impact of a company or business. Other terms that might be used include ethical, sustainable, responsible, green and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) amongst others.
The survey of over 500 people with investments found that over half (55%) said that the pandemic had had an impact on their likelihood to take ESG factors into consideration when deciding where to invest their money. Amongst those who said they already consider ESG, 81% said the pandemic made this even more important.
And this new awareness of the importance of ESG has been borne out by customers’ investing behaviour on Aviva’s Direct platform. The value of new investments in ESG funds in the six months since March has more than doubled compared with the preceding six month period. Investing in other types of funds, meanwhile, has remained steady.