"7 out of 10 Individual Investors Worldwide Prefer Principled Investing Over Returns"

Schroders Announces 'Global Investor Study 2020'
90% of Chinese Respondents Choose Conviction Investing

[Asia Economy Reporter Minji Lee] Seven out of ten individual investors worldwide prefer value-based investing aligned with their personal beliefs rather than focusing solely on returns. This tendency was most prominent in China, where 90% of respondents favored value-based investing.

On the 12th, Schroder Investment Management announced the results of the ‘Schroder Global Investor Study 2020’ conducted in April this year, revealing that 77% of investors choose investments reflecting their values even if there are products with higher returns available.

The commitment to ‘value-based investing’ increased with age. Among investors aged 18 to 37, 75% said they would not invest against their personal beliefs, while 76% of those aged 38 to 50 responded similarly. Among investors aged 51 and above, 82% stated they would invest according to their values even if the returns were higher.

By country, Chinese investors showed the strongest commitment to value-based investing. Only 1 in 10 (10%) Chinese respondents said they would choose returns over values. Among domestic investors, 69% said they would choose investments based on personal values even if higher-return options were available. Conversely, investors in the United States and Singapore were more actively pursuing returns. Thirty-three percent of investors in these regions said they would consider investments against their values if the returns were sufficiently high.

Individual investors indicated that if they had to invest against their personal values, a minimum return of 21% would be required. This figure is double the average expected return of 10.9% over the next five years.

Furthermore, investors evaluated ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) investing positively. Forty-seven percent of respondents said that environmental factors have become more influential on corporate growth due to the COVID-19 pandemic and other reasons. Additionally, 42% believed that investments considering sustainability could achieve higher returns.

Regarding this, Hannah Simons, Head of Sustainability Strategy at Schroders, said, “The survey results show that investors do not decide on investments based solely on returns. Investments contributing to building a sustainable society through personal investing are increasing, and each year this trend is reflected in encouraging returns.”

Jung Eun-su, CEO of Schroder Investment Management Korea, stated, “With the recent active influx of the 20s and 30s generation into the domestic capital market, more investors are seeking investments based on personal beliefs and values rather than just returns. Among these, sustainability-based investing will be an important factor not only in changing our environment but also in pursuing better returns.”

Meanwhile, this survey was conducted across 32 countries including the Korean market, the United States, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and Indonesia, targeting over 23,000 individuals. The participants were limited to investors planning to invest more than 100,000 euros (approximately 13 million KRW) within the next year and who have investment experience within the past 10 years.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.