Business owners are more apt to make impact investments instead of donating to charities to help solve social ills, according to a new finding.
The 2017 U.S. Trust Insights on Wealth and Worth survey, in which more than 800 high-net-worth individuals shared their thoughts on investing, the workplace, family relationships, philanthropy and more, shows that business owners are more likely to invest in organizations that make a positive impact versus non-business owners, who are more likely to turn to charity for social effect.
“Business owners are less likely to make financial charitable contributions compared to non-business owners, but are actively engaged in supporting nonprofit organizations and causes through their work, investments and service,” the report says. “By far, business owners see the private sector, and businesses in particular, as most effective at creating economic opportunity and, in turn, a higher standard of living for more Americans.”
Women and millennials are leading the investment charge to impact imvesting, but interest in impact investing by men has doubled in the past two years, the survey finds.
Some other notable takeaways from the U.S. Trust survey:
• 45 percent of high-net-worth investors own or are interested in impact investments.
• More than half (55 percent) of those who own impact investments say they invest based on impact simply because it’s the right thing to do as a responsible citizen and investors.
• Four in 10 investors agree that companies that have a positive impact also have better financial performance.
• One in three agrees that companies that do well as good corporate citizens are less susceptible to headline risks.
• Eight in 10 high-net-worth investors overall agree that all public companies have an impact on society or the environment.
• Two-thirds of baby boomers and three-fourths of mature investors don’t consider investing as a way to express their social, political or environmental values.
• The number of high-net-worth investors who have reviewed their investment portfolio for the environmental, social or governance impact of companies they invest in has increased to 34 percent, up from 23 percent in 2015.
• The biggest barrier to impact investing adoption continues to be the belief that doing well (investment performance) and doing good (philanthropy) are separate goals (49 percent), a sentiment felt most strongly among older high-net-worth investors.
