For Asia, the time to embrace sustainable investing is now

The pandemic has forced us to rethink our relationship with nature. While most of us were stuck indoors for weeks at a time, the quality of the air and water improved in cities around the world, including in Singapore. As we step back outside, with lockdown measures easing up in many parts of the world, we need to consider how we can restart our economies and build back better.

For the finance sector, sustainable investments have been seen as key to helping future-proof the economy and driving capital towards sustainable development. Its momentum, however, has been slowed by misconceptions about its performance. There are several sustainable investment options, and while in some of the impact-first investments there are trade-offs in returns, investors are realising that many sustainable investments can provide both financial and impact returns.

For example, a June 2020 Morningstar research paper shows that Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) funds have outperformed the wider market over the last 10 years. Many investors need support to make the leap, and - with Asia recovering from the pandemic faster than many markets - now is the time for us to get fully behind sustainable investing.