Get Real! Individuals Prefer More Sustainable Investments

Abstract

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have created societal and political pressure for pension funds to address sustainable investing. We run two field surveys (n=1,669 and n=3,186) with a pension fund that grants its members a real vote on its sustainable-investment policy. Two thirds of participants are willing to expand the fund’s engagement with companies based on selected SDGs, even when they expect engagement to hurt the financial performance. The support remains strong after the fund implemented the choice. A key reason is participants’ strong social preferences.

Keywords: survey experiment, social preferences, socially responsible investments, sustainable finance, experimental finance

JEL Classification: G02, G20, G23, G28