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Edelman's third annual "Trust Barometer Special Report: Institutional Investors," based on a August/September 2019 online quantitative survey of approximately 600 institutional investors (17% US), revealed noteworthy findings, particularly for public companies seeking to understand the leading factors that will build - and engender trust and strengthen their relationships with - their investor base.

Key takeaways include:

• 83% agreed with the statement that, in general, as a firm, they are more interested in taking an activist approach to investing, and 90% said they would support a reputable activist investor at one of their investee companies if they believe change is necessary.
• 84% agreed with the statement that maximizing shareholder returns can no longer be the primary goal of the corporation and that business leaders should commit to balancing the needs of shareholders with customers, employees, suppliers, and local communities.
• More than half of respondents ranked these practices as positively impacting their trust in a company that they are/may consider investing in or recommending (top 4): (1) maintaining a healthy company culture, (2) enforcing a corporate code of conduct at all levels of the company, (3) having a separate Chair/CEO, and (4) board and executive diversity.
• Of those that selected #1 (healthy company culture), their top three metrics or methods used to evaluate corporate culture are speaking with senior leadership, speaking with current employees at all levels, and employee engagement surveys.
• Of those that selected #4 (board & executive diversity), the top three types of diversity considered most important in trust building were business areas of expertise (59%), business strategy philosophies (53%), and experience outside the industry or sector
  (52%). Other types of diversity such as gender, ethnicity, and race ranked much lower.
• Data privacy & cybersecurity, employee health & safety, and eco-efficiency of the company's operations are the top priorities for shareholder engagement in the next six months.
• 87% of respondents said that their firms have changed their voting and/or engagement policy to be more attentive to ESG risks, and 86% said their firm would consider investing with a lower rate of return if it meant investing in a company that addresses sustainable or impact investing considerations. 
• Investors use a mix of frameworks to evaluate ESG practices, as shown here:

• 71% of respondents said that companies are partially responsible for current employee and consumer activism because they overemphasize shareholder returns at the expense of other stakeholders. However, note that according to a recent survey of executives (reported on here), companies are satisfied with the job they do to meet the interests of stakeholders, but generally don’t believe these efforts are understood by institutional investors or the media.