On the go: The majority of consumers take steps to improve the sustainability impact of their daily lives, but fail to apply these lessons to their finances, according to a new study by master trust Nest.
In a survey of 2,000 of its members, Nest, which has made environmental, social and governance issues a core theme of both its investment and engagement strategies, found strong support for its agenda but also revealed a lack of awareness among its membership.
Just 7 per cent of respondents said they believed they had chosen a financial services provider that takes corporate responsibility, dropping to 5 per cent when asked specifically about pensions. Despite this, 56 per cent said they had made a change in the past year to be more environmentally or socially responsible.
However, the study also unearthed a potential reputational risk for providers seen to lag on tackling sustainability risks, finding that 46 per cent of members said their money being invested in a scheme that takes “issues such as executive pay, environmental damage and human rights seriously” was important to them.
Diandra Soobiah, Nest’s head of responsible investment, said: “We suspect many consumers are simply unaware of the power their money could have, and that companies are still making the topic too complicated – something we’ll be investigating further.”
The master trust has redoubled efforts to communicate its sustainability agenda, after finding that its own members were unaware of initiatives it has joined.
Susan Rothstein, a Nest member who works part-time bookkeeping for a scaffolding company, told the study: “I honestly didn’t realise that Nest had such a strong feeling about all these subjects, I didn’t really know where the money went!”
