Most affluent investors would rather go to the dentist than invest in a company that hurts the environment

• Nuveen's "Third Annual Responsible Investing Survey" found that interest in socially responsible investing is rising among investors yet only 22% of financial advisors said they were offering responsible investing options.
• Seventy-six percent of the investors surveyed said they'd rather visit the dentist than invest in a company that pollutes the environment.
• Over 80% of investors said they would be more likely to work with a financial advisor who could give them competitive market returns for investments that make a positive impact on society.

Nuveen's "Third Annual Responsible Investor Survey" was conducted in the summer of 2017, and included two different groups of people in the US: 281 financial advisors, and over 1,000 affluent investors. The affluent investors surveyed included individuals with over $100,000 in investable assets and who work with a financial advisor.

Investors are interested in socially responsible investing

Seventy-six percent of the investors surveyed said they'd rather visit the dentist than invest in a company that pollutes the environment.

Fifty-two percent of affluent investors said they would be somewhat or very likely to put all their holdings into responsible investing portfolios.

Eighty-two percent of investors said they would be more likely to work with a financial advisor who could give them competitive market returns for investments that make a positive impact on society.

Most financial advisors are not offering responsible investing options

Surprisingly, only 22% of the financial advisors surveyed are offering responsible investing options to their clients.

According to Nuveen's report, advisors who recommend responsible investing are more likely to say they are satisfied with their practice. Ninety-seven percent of advisors who recommend responsible investing say they are satisfied with the state of their business, compared to 86% of non-recommenders.

Their clients seem satisfied too. Eighty percent of the financial advisors surveyed said their clients with responsible investing portfolios achieve average or above average market returns. Nuveen's report states, "of advisors who recommend RI [responsible investing], 10% say their clients with RI portfolios achieved above market returns, 70% say their clients have average market returns and only 20% say below market returns."

Myths about responsible investing persist among investors and advisors

According to Nuveen, myths about responsible investing persist among both financial advisors and affluent investors.

The majority of people in both groups believe responsible investing is mostly just about excluding companies that don't meet certain criteria.

A little over half of both groups say responsible investing does not offer the same rate of return as other investment strategies.

Many investors and advisors believe responsible investing options tend to have higher fees.

Based on the results of the survey, while many financial advisors are not offering responsible investing options, the increased interest from investors may give the ones that do a clear competitive advantage.