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Aon's first annual global survey of 223 institutional investors worldwide (41% UK/16% EU/18% Canada/15% US) - including corporate pensions (45%), public pensions plans (15%), endowments & foundations (11%), and defined contribution plans (10%) - reveals a number of noteworthy responsible investing (RI) insights.

Key findings include: 

• 68% of respondents consider RI at least somewhat important. Among the reasons cited as to why RI isn't more important to their organization: lack of agreement among key stakeholders/trustees about RI, and difficulty balancing RI initiatives with their fiduciary duty.
• Nearly 40% of respondents reported having chosen to implement a RI initiative due to a belief that the incorporation of non-financial ESG data resulted in better investment decisions, followed by the desire to impact certain global issues (26%).
• Although 29% of respondents have no RI policy in place, 40% do, and an additional 14% said that a process is being developed.
• Over 38% of respondents indicated that their number one hurdle for RI was a lack of consensus about the impact of responsible investing on investment returns, although a deeper dive reveals variability by demographic group, e.g., public pensions cited lack of dedicated staff, while defined contribution plans cited a lack of good RI products.
• Of those active in RI, incorporation of ESG factors into their investment decisions is the most common approach (47%).
• Of those polled in the US, no investors indicated they would withdraw from a manager who lacked an RI policy, compared to 5% of Canadian investors, 9% in the EU/Continental Europe, and 11% in the UK.