Barclays surveyed 1,000 UK investors in 2017 to assess their views on impact investing

New research has found that two out of five investors (43 per cent) aged under 40 have made an impact investment during their lifetime, which is up from 30 per cent when the bank first asked the question in 2015.

Barclays surveyed 1,000 UK investors in 2017 to assess the views of investors on impact investing.
 
The report found that 9 per cent of those aged 50-59 have made an impact investment, but only three per cent of those aged over 60 had done so.
 
Some 15 per cent of all the investors surveyed have made an impact investment, up from nine per cent in 2015.
 
The study found that for those aged under 40, prior impact investments made up 17 per cent of reported investable assets, falling to 9 per cent for those a decade older, and to 6 per cent for those over 60.
 
Those aged under 30 would allocate three times as much of their portfolio to impact investments as those aged 60 and above.

“Younger generations are more naturally comfortable combining financial and societal ambitions when investing,” said Damian Payiatakis, head of impact investing at Barclays. “However, it’s the older generation who have more investable wealth today and whose choices will be significant in shaping the investment market and the world their children and grandchildren live in. They also have been investing over a longer period, so we’re working with existing portfolios that need to be transitioned with their preferences and the new impact investments becoming available – a process that isn’t always simple. Ultimately though, if impact investing is to truly enter the mainstream and become integrated into regular investment processes, the industry will need to build an approach that captures the interest of, and caters to, the whole spectrum of investors.”