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Portfolio > Portfolio Construction > ESG

Wealthy Investors Seek Purpose-Driven Investments After Pandemic

By Michael S. Fischer

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What You Need to Know

  • UBS found that 9 in 10 investors want to align their investments with their values.
  • Half plan to increase their charitable giving.
  • Nearly 60% are more interested in sustainable investing than they were before the outbreak.

Like many people emerging from the pandemic lockdown, wealthy investors are reassessing their life goals. According to a survey released Wednesday by UBS, 9 in 10 investors want to align their investments with their values.

UBS conducted the survey in May among 3,800 investors 25 and older with at least $1 million in investable assets split across 15 global markets. Researchers compared the findings with those from a study conducted in May 2020 with a similar sample.

Seventy-nine percent of respondents in the new survey said the pandemic had prompted them to reassess what was important. Half planned to increase their charitable giving. Nearly 60% reported being more interested in sustainable investing than they were before the outbreak.

“It is incredibly encouraging to see that purpose-driven investment will be a priority for investors in the years to come,” Tom Naratil, co-president of UBS Global Wealth Management and president of UBS Americas, said in a statement. 

“This is a unique moment where wealth managers have the opportunity to help their clients create immense change and better outcomes for future generations.”

Younger generations, in particular, have turned their attention more to purpose-related investing as a result of the pandemic, according to the survey. Seventy-nine percent of investors 50 and younger said the pandemic had made them want to make more of a difference in the world, compared with 51% of older investors. 

Nearly three-quarters of the younger cohort also said they wanted to develop or update a comprehensive financial plan.

Eighty-four percent of female investors in the survey said they had reassessed their goals amid the pandemic, compared with 76% of men. As investors begin to put the pandemic behind them, 51% of women plan to increase charitable giving, versus 42% of men.

“Globally, investors are motivated to play their part in making the world a better, more sustainable place,” UBS Global Wealth Management Co-President Iqbal Khan said in the statement. “The heightened interest in charitable giving and desire to obtain sustainable investing advice from younger generations is a sign, too, that this mindset may be here to stay.”

Michael S. Fischer

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