Aegon Adviser Attitudes Report 2021

ESG on the rise Advisers have seen an increase in demand for environmental, social and governance (ESG) investments from clients, but cite barriers to integration into investment propositions. UK savers put almost £1 billion a month on average into ESG funds in 2020, up 66% on the previous year 1 . Supporting this demand, regulatory change is driving reforms to both workplace pensions and the retail advice sector, with ESG considerations more firmly embedded into fund selection processes. Workplace default funds are now more likely to have an ESG mandate built into their investment process, a move which will transfer billions of pounds worth of pension savings into ESG strategies, and which will firmly embed lower-cost ESG strategies into mainstream investing. But in the retail market ESG investments are yet to be fully embedded into most investment propositions. However, our survey results highlight a degree of frustration among advisers at the lack of maturity of this market, something which will surely improve in the near to medium term as governments start to drive through their green agenda and investment solutions evolve. 1 The Investment Association, March 2021, https://www.theia.org/media/ press-releases/responsible-investment-funds-under-management-66- over-12-months Skip to section: 22% of firms have increased the ESG options they offer 38 Aegon adviser attitudes report 2021