Investors fear SRIs deliver lower returns
New research has revealed that nearly half the Australian public believes socially responsible investments (SRIs) deliver lower returns than mainstream funds, despite the majority of financial advisers disagreeing with this assumption.
The findings were detailed in CPA Australia’s fifth annual Confidence in Corporate Reporting Survey and also showed that 62 per cent of advisers predicted client interest in SRIs would increase over the next few years.
This expectation was supported by CPA chief executive Geoff Rankin, who said advisers had the power to raise awareness of these types of investments and debunk the notion that SRIs implied a financial trade-off for investors.
“A recent benchmark study confirmed that SRI funds are more than competitive with those of mainstream funds — in fact, over the past five years, SRIs invested in Australian shares returned nearly 14 per cent per year, whereas mainstream Australian share funds returned less than 11 per cent per year by comparison,” he said.
“With super choice, Australians now have a real opportunity to speak with their feet by directing their superannuation savings to funds that better align with their financial, social and environmental values.”
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