Member perceptions of ESG investing through superannuation

Laura de Zwaan, Mark Brimble and Jenny Stewart

Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal, 2015, vol. 6, issue 1, 79-102

Abstract: Purpose - – Environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks have the potential to negatively impact financial returns, yet few superannuation funds integrate these considerations into their investment selection. The Cooper Review (2010) identified a lack of member demand as a key impediment to ESG investing by superannuation funds. Given this problem, the aim of this study is to explore superannuation fund members’ perceptions of ESG investing by their funds in order to identify reasons for the lack of demand. Design/methodology/approach - – An on-line survey was developed and distributed to assess possible reasons why members do not select ESG investment options. In total, 549 Australian superannuation fund members responded to the survey. Findings - – Results indicate that the majority of superannuation fund members are interested in ESG investing. Members lack awareness of their fund’s approach to ESG investing, and they do not perceive there to be a financial penalty from ESG investing. Finally, members show a preference for consideration of governance issues over both social and environmental issues. Research limitations/implications - – Respondents are well educated and the majority did not choose their superannuation fund. There was no measure of financial literacy included in the research instrument. There is also a general limitation in surveying superannuation fund members when they lack knowledge about superannuation. Practical implications - – The results indicate that superannuation members are interested in both superannuation and ESG investing. Given the low take-up of ESG investment options, this finding raises the question of how effectively funds are engaging their members. Social implications - – The results should be of interest to superannuation funds and may lead to renewed interest in promoting ESG products. Originality/value - – This is the first study to examine superannuation members’ attitudes and behaviours towards ESG investing in the context of superannuation. The study also adds to our understanding of member decision-making in the $1.8 trillion superannuation industry.

Keywords: Responsible investing; ESG investing; Institutional investing; Members; Pension funds; Superannuation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.110 ... d&utm_campaign=repec (text/html)
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.110 ... d&utm_campaign=repec (application/pdf)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eme:sampjp:sampj-03-2014-0017

DOI: 10.1108/SAMPJ-03-2014-0017

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal is currently edited by Prof Carol Adams

More articles in Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal from Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Emerald Support ().