However, there are still challenges to overcome to make sustainable investment effective and measurable, the study noted.

The survey polled 750 global institutional investors covering $26.1tn (£18.9tn) in assets. It found official institutions, including national pension plans, were much more likely (at 70 per cent) to cite Covid-19 as making sustainable investment “significantly more important” than for insurance institutions (57 per cent) and corporate pension plans (49 per cent).

Engagement remained more popular than divestment strategies, and 57 per cent of respondents reported that engagement should be measured by “real world outcomes” that demonstrate “measurable improvement” for stakeholders.

Among European managers, 56 per cent said engagement would be considered successful if it achieved “more transparent reporting”, 42 per cent said it would be deemed so if the “engagement insight or outcome” is “directly reflected in the investment case”, and 37 per cent if it led to “consistently voting against companies in order to drive change”.

The environment and climate change were the key focus of 64 per cent of respondents when it comes to engagement, with employees — the treatment of staff and workforce diversity, for instance — running a close second at 61 per cent, a figure the survey said was influenced by job losses and other workforce concerns brought to light during the pandemic.

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