Swiss Sustainable Investment Market Report 2017

1 June 2017: This report, which was for the second year in a row published jointly by Forum Nachhaltige Geldanlagen (FNG) and Swiss Sustainable Finance (SSF), describes the developments of the Swiss sustainable investment market in detail. The 39% increase is not only the result of organic growth, but is also attributable to an increase in survey participation. Many of the 10 newly included asset owners, for example, recently launched their sustainable investment activities over the course of 2016. This is one reason why the assets managed by institutional investors have jumped by 89% over the past year to reach CHF 104.5 billion. Sustainable investment funds have also risen by 59% to CHF 64.2 billion, with their share of the overall fund market increasing from 4.5% to 7%. 

The gradual mainstreaming of sustainable investments is influencing the selection of strategies, which many investors are also using in various combinations. The exclusion of certain sectors or business practices is still the most common approach, and is applied to 67% of all sustainable investments in Switzerland. Norms-based screening has now ousted the ESG Integration strategy from second place, and is already being applied to 62% of all sustainable investments. 

Human rights are the thematic focus of this year’s market report, reflecting their growing importance in the business world. While a large proportion (86%) of all asset managers questioned said they applied human rights criteria to their sustainable products, almost a third consider such criteria for their mainstream funds as well. The current market report also includes a case study on the Swiss Association for Responsible Investments (SVVK-ASIR), an asset owner network, which began its activities over the course of 2016. 

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Download figures from the report: EN, DE, FR

Graphs From the report