MEDIA RELEASE: Over 60% of retail investors in the Asia Pacific region now recognise the importance of sustainable investing, continuing a positive trend that has developed over recent years. However, more than a third (36%) feel there is a trade-off between investing sustainably and achieving a good return.

The annual survey, conducted with more than 12,000 respondents across six APAC markets including mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Japan and Australia, aimed to analyse the sentiment of individual savers and investors towards ESG and sustainable investing.

The results this year continued the trend seen in 2021, with APAC investors becoming increasingly positive towards the concept of sustainable investing. More than half (54%) of respondents expressed their desire to use their money to make a positive change in the world, with 56% believing that investors have the power to change corporate behaviours through their own investing actions. From the six markets surveyed, mainland China and Singapore are the two markets where investors are most interested in realising positive change through investing.

Chart 1 - % of respondents who are interested in having their money make a positive change

Source: Fidelity International, 2022

However, respondents also indicated some concerns when it comes to the promises being made on sustainable investing at its current stage of development. Almost half (46%) of investors feel the definition for what qualifies as sustainable investing seems subjective, with a lack of clear definitions for investment managers to follow, and 49% feel sustainable investments and their providers lack regulatory oversight in relation to the promises they make. Interestingly, in mainland China and Singapore where there is the highest level of interest in sustainable investing, there is also the greatest level of concern over the lack of clear guidelines.

Chart 2 – % of respondents who feel sustainable investing seems subjective and lacks clear guidelines of providers to follow

Source: Fidelity International, 2022

Among the range of ESG-related issues where investors are most keen to make a positive change, climate change tops the list in all surveyed markets followed by sustainable consumption and broader social issues. This aligns with the findings from the Fidelity ESG Analyst Survey 2022¹ that highlights greenhouse gas emissions as one of the leading topics dominating discussions in meetings with boards and managements in the last 12 months. The ESG Analyst Survey also highlights the marked increase in interactions on social topics like employee welfare and supply chain-related environmental and labour issues.

“Sustainable investing is becoming a mainstream investment theme across the APAC region and we are encouraged to see retail investors’ interest in sustainability continue to grow,” says Jenn-Hui Tan, Global Head of Stewardship and Sustainable Investing at Fidelity International. “Clearly, there are concerns about how ESG-related financial products are living up to their promises, which the financial services industry needs to address. At Fidelity International, we want to be at the forefront of this effort. We’ve developed a proprietary rating system to guide our sustainability research and we are also dedicated to driving positive change in businesses through constructive corporate engagements with our investee companies. To further address questions of reliability, we believe broader industry collaboration on investor education and fostering a consistent sustainable investing framework will be critical.”

Fidelity is actively playing its part on the road to net zero through its Climate Investing Policy and net zero strategy. By 2030, Fidelity aims to halve the carbon footprint of its investment portfolios and achieve net zero emissions across its own corporate operations, and by 2050 plans to reach net zero across all investment portfolios.