ESG Investment Reporting Survey

A way out of the "jungle" of ESG investment approaches and products

The current ESG investment environment can be characterised as a “jungle” of ESG investment approaches and products. It is not always easy for an investor to find a “True ESG” investment product and to steer clear of investments that just pretend to be ESG (what we call “Greenwashing”) or investment products that believe to be ESG, but fail to achieve the intended impact or results (what we call “Greenwishing”).

A clear and detailed ESG investment reporting not only helps investors to take well-informed investment decisions, it enables investment managers to provide a desired trust and transparency to investors and to fulfil regulatory requirements.

The purpose of this survey, which was conducted by bpmi and us, is to identify the current status of investor reporting for ESG investment products and strategies by the largest Swiss investment managers, custodians and institutional investors in terms of meeting various needs and the future outlook.

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Key learnings

Transparent communication

“Greenwashing” and “Greenwishing” in the ESG Investment area are perceived to be significant and call for more transparent communication.The majority of respondents believe that independent assurance of ESG investment process and products would be helpful to mitigate the risk of greenwashing.

Gaps between needs and expectations

There are still gaps between the ESG investing needs and expectations of investors and capabilities of investment managers, due both to external factors (such as lack of ESG data in specific asset classes) and to different understanding of ESG investing.

Regulations are considered as relevant

EU regulations in the ESG area are considered relevant for many Swiss players and the current self-regulation efforts in Switzerland by industry associations are viewed as useful to fill the regulatory gap in Switzerland.

Future trends

The expected future trends for ESG investment reporting include a greater flexibility, a wider array of ESG metrics and their comparison over time, web-based reporting solutions and shift to a more forward-looking reporting perspective.

How this study came about

Our participants

Our study comprises participants from largest Swiss asset managers and custodians (AM) and large Swiss asset owners (mainly pension funds) (AO).

About bmpi

For over 25 years, bmpi has been an expert in investment reporting. In the area of sustainable finance, bmpi offers ESG reporting as an outsourced solution for asset managers and asset owners

About us

PwC Switzerland is the leading audit and advisory company in Switzerland. At PwC, our purpose is to build trust in society and solve important problems.