A new report by the Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA) has found that responsible investment funds in New Zealand have overtaken traditional funds for the first time. The ‘Responsible Investment Benchmark Report 2023 Aotearoa New Zealand’ showed that responsible investment funds had reached a record US$183 billion – now comprising 52% of the market – in 2022, while traditional investments saw a 9% fall to US$169 billion. This year the RIAA introduced a revised scorecard with higher expectations for investment managers, but despite this the number of managers reaching the “threshold for “demonstrating leading practice” increased by six. This took the total number of fund managers named as Responsible Investment Leaders to 16. The report also found that for the first time ever in New Zealand, corporate engagement and shareholder action had become the most popular responsible investment approach for fund managers, narrowly ahead of negative screening and ESG integration, with each approach accounting for more than US$150 billion AUM. The RIAA has more than 500 total members representing US$29 trillion in AUM. Dean Hegarty, Executive Manager at the RIAA, said: “Long-term performance benefits are now a key driver of responsible investment growth among investment managers, along with surging consumer demand. There is a growing acceptance that environmental, social and governance factors impact financial performance, and that proactive, targeted management of these factors reduces risk.”
Our Responsible Investment Benchmark Report 2023 Aotearoa NZ launched today reveals New Zealand's responsible investment market now covers more than half the total market📈
Read the full report here: https://t.co/cgJSABz0BA#responsibleinvestment #stewardship #sustainablefinance pic.twitter.com/L5qrEuLJAs— RIAA (@RIAANews) October 9, 2023
