The majority of Canadian investors rely on their financial advisors for guidance when it comes to responsible investing (RI), according to a survey from RBC Global Asset Management Inc. (RBC GAM).
The survey found that 73% of retail investors believe RI is the way of the future. Sixty-one per cent said they would turn to their financial advisor to learn more about RI, and 76% said it was important for their advisor to be knowledgeable about RI.
A majority of respondents (81%) were not worried about RI leading to poorer returns, saying that RI offered either the same (62%) or better (19%) returns than traditional investments.
Younger investors (aged 18-34) were particularly confident about RI’s performance, with 30% saying they believe RI offers superior returns to traditional investments. They were also more likely to have engaged in a conversation about RI (45%) than older investors.
Regionally, investors in British Columbia (46%) and Quebec (38%) were substantially more likely to have discussed RI with their advisor than respondents in Ontario (27%) and Atlantic Canada (19%).
Eighty-nine per cent of investors who had discussed RI with their advisor were recommended an RI option.
The findings are from an Ipsos survey of 1,500 Canadian retail investors that took place between Aug. 13-23, 2019. The survey is accurate within +/- 2.9 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.