Over a third of people would accept lower pension savings for ethical investments
More than a third (37 per cent) of people would be willing to accept some reduction in their pension savings if their investments were made more ethically, a study by the High Pay Centre and Survation has found.
Of those surveyed, two-thirds (66 per cent) said that they wanted their pension fund to reflect their ethical values and beliefs.
Almost a third (29 per cent) considered insufficient pension savings as the biggest threat to their quality of life in later years, while 21 per cent felt that climate change was a bigger threat.
While 50 per cent of respondents believed that generating returns was an important factor that pension schemes should consider when investing in companies, 42 per cent said that the pay and conditions of a company’s workers was important, while 37 per cent said the same about the firm’s environmental impact and its approach to human rights issues.
The High Pay Centre stated that the findings indicated that many pension savers recognised the link between employment and the environmental and ethical practices of the companies they invest in, although it also found a “limited understanding” of pensions, investments and financial markets.
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