The standard definition of  SOCIAL RESPONSIBLE INVESTMENTS (SRI) is provided by  Global Sustainable Investment Alliance (GSIA) and identifies 7 investment strategies:

  • Negative/exclusionary screening: the exclusion from a fund or portfolio of certain sectors, companies or practices based on specific ESG criteria;
  • Positive/best-in-class screening: investment in sectors, companies or projects selected for positive ESG performance relative to industry peers;
  • Norms-based screening: screening of investments against minimum standards of business practice based on international norms;
  • Integration of ESG factors: the systematic and explicit inclusion by investment managers of environmental, social and governance factors into traditional financial analysis;
  • Sustainability themed investing: investment in themes or assets specifically related to sustainability (for example clean energy, green technology or sustainable agriculture);
  • Impact/community investing: targeted investments, typically made in private markets, aimed at solving social or environmental problems, and including community investing, where capital is specifically directed to traditionally underserved individuals or communities, as well as financing that is provided to businesses with a clear social or environmental purpose;
  • Corporate engagement and shareholder action: the use of shareholder power to influence corporate behavior, including through direct corporate engagement (i.e., communicating with senior management and/or boards of companies), filing or co-filing shareholder proposals, and proxy voting that is guided by comprehensive ESG guidelines.

Global market size

  • In particolare in Europa il peso degli AUM SRI sul totale è il più elevato: 52,6%, seguito da Australia/NewZeland (50,6%) e Canada (37,8%)
  • L’Europa è l’area geografica più importante con $ 12,0 trillion di AUM SRI (52,6%), seguita dagli Stati Uniti (38,1%)
  • La strategia più diffusa è negative / exclusionary screening ($ 15,0 trillion), seguita da integration of ESG factors ($ 10,4 trillion)
  • Negative / exclusionary screening è la strategia più diffusa in Europa
  • Negli Stati Uniti, Canada, Australia/New Zealand e Asia la strategia dominante è integration of ESG factors
  • Worldwide, SRI AUM  have grown significantly (+ 25% in the 2014-2016 period), reaching $ 22.9 trillion in 2016 ($ 18.3 trillion in 2014)
  • Total weight of SRI AUM  on total AUMs in 2016: 26.3% globally
  • In particular, in Europe the weight of SRI AUM on total AUM is highest: 52.6%, followed by Australia / NewZeland (50.6%) and Canada (37.8%)
  • Europe is the most important geographic area with $ 12.0 trillion SRI AUM (52.6%), followed by the United States (38.1%)
  • The most widespread strategy is negative / exclusionary screening ($ 15.0 trillion), followed by integration of ESG factors ($ 10.4 trillion)
  • Negative / Exclusionary screening is the most widespread strategy in Europe
  • In the United States, Canada, Australia / New Zealand and Asia, the dominant strategy is the integration of ESG factors

Source: Global Sustainable Investment Alliance (GSIA)