In the first quarter of 2022, the assets in sustainable mutual funds almost doubled compared to the same quarter of the previous year, the BVI fund association recently reported.

At the end of March, Germans held 563 billion euros in "green" funds.

Individual asset managers like to report something similar in their annual and quarterly figures.

Gregory Bruner

Editor in Business.

  • Follow I follow

But are investors really increasingly concerned with the sustainability and impact of their investments?

The results of two studies point in a different direction.

As the cooperative fund company Union Investment found out in its representative survey, 67 percent of Germans consider sustainability to be an important issue.

When investing, however, it is only a decision-making criterion for 10 percent.

Again, 49 percent of those surveyed pay attention to the safety of the systems.

The expected return is a decisive benchmark for 48 percent.

8 percent named the costs of the system.

Many also doubt the effect of sustainable investments.

47 percent say they doubt the success of German sustainability efforts and their global impact.

Only 13 percent think

The results of Union Investment coincide with a study by the American asset manager American Century Investments, which was exclusively available to the FAZ in advance.

It compared the opinions of adults from the United States, United Kingdom, Germany and Australia on impact investing.

Among respondents from the four countries, Germans were the least familiar with the concept and, if they did know what the concept was, found it least appealing.

While 61 and 63 percent respectively in the USA and Great Britain were convinced of impact-related investments, only 44 percent of Germans gave positive answers in this regard.

In terms of investment selection criteria, Germans came last with 59 percent.

yield,

Risk, cost and investment time were all more important.

A similar picture emerges in the other countries, although in all respondents more respondents cited the impact as a reason for their decision.

Sustainability not only as a marketing term

The German study participants were comparatively relaxed with regard to the incorrect reporting of the intended use of sustainable investments or "greenwashing".

50 percent think that greenwashing has increased.

On the other hand, 18 percent say it has not increased - most in an international comparison who denied the assumption.

American authorities obviously have a different opinion.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission announced on Wednesday that it intends to tighten the rules for investment funds that are marketed as sustainable.

The SEC wants to ensure that sustainability is not just a claim in the prospectus, but also a strategy pursued by the fund.