Our research, conducted across seven countries and with over six thousand respondents, indicates that kindness plays a role when consumers decide which companies to invest their own money in.
We found that kindness1 was a more powerful determinant of where people would invest their money (chosen by 90.7% of respondents), than the cost of investment (90.5%), the risk (90.1%) or the reputation of the investment manager (87.0%).
90.7% of all consumers saw the responsibility of the firm being invested in as an important factor when deciding which companies to invest their own money in. That number was highest among US consumers (95.3%) and lowest among Netherlands consumers (84.1%). The socially responsible and ethical nature of the investment was flagged as important by 81.2%. Only 3.6% of people thought this factor was not at all important.
1 - via its nearest proxy, “responsible nature of firm”
“It’s really encouraging to see that consumers consider how responsible a firm is when deciding whether or not to make an investment. By several counts retail investors hold more than half of the world’s assets under management, so this link between kindness and consumer investment decisions is significant news for managers of any investable firm.
“Companies should embrace this and aim to increase their attractiveness to such investors. Options include taking actions consistent with kindness and ensuring those actions are communicated in all relevant investor communications, such as earnings calls, narrative reports, analyst relations and so on.”
- Anya Davis, partner, expert in energy and resources
What attributes do you consider most when deciding which companies to invest your own money in?
Overall
"What attributes do you consider most when deciding which companies to invest your own money in?" - all regions
|
Reputation of investment manager |
87.0% |
|
Responsible nature of firm |
90.7% |
|
Cost of investment |
90.5% |
|
Potential return |
91.4% |
|
Level of risk |
90.1% |
Australia
"What attributes do you consider most when deciding which companies to invest your own money in?" - Australia
|
Reputation of investment manager |
88.9% |
|
Responsible nature of firm |
92.5% |
|
Cost of investment |
94.3% |
|
Potential return |
95.1% |
|
Level of risk |
93.3% |
Germany
"What attributes do you consider most when deciding which companies to invest your own money in?" - Germany
|
Reputation of investment manager |
79.5% |
|
Responsible nature of firm |
85.6% |
|
Cost of investment |
85.0% |
|
Potential return |
85.5% |
|
Level of risk |
82.6% |
Netherlands
"What attributes do you consider most when deciding which companies to invest your own money in?" - Netherlands
|
Reputation of investment manager |
83.7% |
|
Responsible nature of firm |
84.1% |
|
Cost of investment |
85.5% |
|
Potential return |
89.9% |
|
Level of risk |
88.5% |
Singapore
"What attributes do you consider most when deciding which companies to invest your own money in?" - Singapore
|
Reputation of investment manager |
88.2% |
|
Responsible nature of firm |
92.0% |
|
Cost of investment |
90.2% |
|
Potential return |
89.6% |
|
Level of risk |
89.8% |
Switzerland
"What attributes do you consider most when deciding which companies to invest your own money in?" - Switzerland
|
Reputation of investment manager |
83.6% |
|
Responsible nature of firm |
90.0% |
|
Cost of investment |
89.2% |
|
Potential return |
89.4% |
|
Level of risk |
88.6% |
United Kingdom
"What attributes do you consider most when deciding which companies to invest your own money in?" - United Kingdom
|
Reputation of investment manager |
88.4% |
|
Responsible nature of firm |
92.0% |
|
Cost of investment |
91.7% |
|
Potential return |
92.3% |
|
Level of risk |
91.5% |
United States
"What attributes do you consider most when deciding which companies to invest your own money in?" - United States
|
Reputation of investment manager |
93.3% |
|
Responsible nature of firm |
95.3% |
|
Cost of investment |
94.2% |
|
Potential return |
96.0% |
|
Level of risk |
94.8% |
87.0% of all consumers saw the reputation of the investment manager as an important factor when deciding which companies to invest their own money in. That number was highest among US consumers (93.3%) and lowest among German consumers (79.5%). Employees of larger businesses (88.1%) rated this factor as more important than smaller (81.4%). Trust was rated the most important factor in an investment manager (by 90.4%), with honesty a close second (89.4%).
How important is the socially responsible and ethical nature of the investment?
Responders rating as 'important' by region:
Overall |
Australia |
Germany |
Netherlands |
Singapore |
Switzerland |
UK
|
US |
|
81.2% |
82.3% |
77.1% |
71.2% |
83.4% |
82.4% |
80.7% |
86.7% |
How important is the honesty of the investment manager?
Responders rating as 'important' by region:
Overall |
Australia |
Germany |
Netherlands |
Singapore |
Switzerland |
UK
|
US |
|
89.4% |
92.0% |
85.2% |
84.9% |
89.5% |
88.4% |
89.6% |
93.4% |
How important is trust in the investment manager?
Responders rating as 'important' by region:
Overall |
Australia |
Germany |
Netherlands |
Singapore |
Switzerland |
UK
|
US |
|
90.4% |
91.4% |
86.5% |
87.3% |
90.1% |
88.6% |
91.5% |
95.1% |
"It’s really encouraging to see how important the responsible nature of the firm is in the consideration of consumers when it comes to personal investment. Once again, it’s clear that kindness in business pays."
Anya Davis, partner, expert in energy and resources
Methodology
The research was conducted by independent market research consultancy, Censuswide. The survey was conducted online with 6,028 employed consumers who have either a pension or some kind of investment in Australia, Germany, Netherlands, Singapore, Switzerland, the UK or the US, between 26.04.2023 - 04.05.2023. Censuswide abide by and employ members of the Market Research Society, which is based on the ESOMAR principles, and are members of the British Polling Council.
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