Environmental, social, corporate governance and ethics considerations now sit alongside financial as critical components informing the investment decisions of the majority of New Zealand’s professional investors.

The 4thannual New ZealandResponsible Investment Benchmark Report 2018 (KPMG), the most comprehensive review of the sector,reveals the industry hitting new heights with $183.4 billion now managed as responsible investments, up from $131.3 billion in 2016 and $79 billion in 2015.

“The single most significant driver of growth in responsible investment is coming from the demand and desire from clients to align investments to their values – which we can track to the 2016 revelations of many KiwiSaver funds being invested in weapons and tobacco,” said Simon O’Connor, CEO of Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA). “In that short amount of time, we have seen nearly the entire investment industry move to put in place a responsible investment approach, from 2.5% of the industry two years ago.

Download the Report here.