Millennials Will Make Impact Investing Mainstream
Impact investing will likely become a mainstream investment strategy as millennials attain more wealth, according to a Fidelity Charitable study that found that 61% of millennial investors already practice impact investing, compared with only one-third of all investors.
“We find that investors are increasingly interested in aligning their investments with their broader values and desire for social change,” Scott Nance, vice president of impact investing at Fidelity Charitable, said in a statement. “And the trend toward values-based investing will only grow as millennials come to control a larger share of wealth.”
Although impact investing typically differs from traditional investing in that it prioritizes achieving social good over financial returns, the study treats ESG investing as a subset of impact investing.
The study found that while millennials are in the lead when it comes to impact investing, older generations are starting to catch on. Only one-third of all investors engage in impact investing, but 40% of non-participating investors said they will consider making their first impact investment within a year, while 60% said they aren’t likely to consider it.
The study observed that the main barrier keeping many investors on the sideline is a lack of knowledge, rather than disagreement over the concept of impact investing. It found that 39% said they weren’t participating because they didn’t know enough about impact investing, while 14% said investment decisions should be based only on returns, and another 14% said they didn’t believe impact investing was an effective way to solve problems.
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