A survey by Clearwater Analytics has revealed that 45% of institutional investors do not have ESG investing initiatives or policies in place, with management cited as the key reason. Nearly 60% of respondents said executive management were the main drivers of ESG initiatives and related compliance, while 38% of companies without ESG policies said their main reason was a lack of management interest. In the survey, 30% of respondents also said they need to invest in technology solutions to improve their handling of ESG data, with over 40% of investors reporting that their ESG data was documented in a spreadsheet and only half inputting data into portfolio management systems. A recent survey by GaiaLens previously characterised large US and European asset owners as not having the tools, data and processes in place to manage ESG risks and impacts effectively.
