Affluent investors look at a multitude of influences when selecting investments, but social responsibility is not high among them, according to a study by Spectrem Group.

Only approximately thirty percent of households with a net worth between $1 million and $5 million feel that social responsibility should be a primary investment factor. It has even less importance for wealthier investors with a net worth between $5 million and $25 million, with only a quarter of them feeling this way.

Socially responsible investing is a more important factor among non-Millionaires with a net worth of a least $100,000. Almost forty percent (38 percent), look at social responsibility when choosing an investment.  Another similarity between these investors is their age, they tend to be younger.  The largest percentage of non-Millionaire respondents who consider social responsibility to be a primary investment factor are under the age of 45, at just less than fifty percent.

Among Millionaires, the largest percentage of investors looking at socially responsible investing (35 percent) are between the ages of 53-59. With high net worth investors, the largest percentage of investors who look at social responsibility when selecting an investment (34 percent) are ages 55-64.

The main reason investors do not look at socially responsible investing is that they haven’t given it much thought.  Above a third of Affluent investors feel this way, and is a feeling felt by 44 percent of high net worth investors, 38 percent of Millionaires and 36 percent of non-Millionaires.

When looking at investments, Affluent investors are just not that concerned with social responsibility. Almost seventy percent said that a company’s support of charitable causes does not influence or impact whether they choose to invest in that company. More than ninety percent of investors said they do not buy products from a company because of their support for a charitable cause.

 

 

For more on Spectrem Group research of Affluent investors, click here