Quantitative Update

Responsible Investing Trends

Institutional Investors and Responsible Investing | Is Adoption Changing?

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Summary

Institutional asset owners continue to grapple with a shifting responsible investment landscape, balancing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) objectives with regulatory pressure and political scrutiny. Yet, despite headwinds, institutional investor commitment to responsible investing remains solid.

  • More than half (56%) of institutional investors that take ESG considerations into account have an ESG integration process and evaluate material ESG factors.

  • Of these investors, almost half use positive (47%) and exclusionary (45%) ESG-related screens when making investment decisions.

Cerulli’s latest quantitative update provides a breakdown on the state of ESG adoption among institutional investors. By the numbers explore:

  • Challenges to Increasing Board Receptivity and How Institutional Investors Are Responding

  • Impact of the Anti-ESG Movement

  • Methods Institutional Investors Use When Considering ESG Factors

  • Types of Responsible Investing Products Used and Allocations

  • Use of Consultants/Advisors or OCIO Support

  • Reporting and Data Considerations
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SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS

Meet our team

Michele Giuditta, CFA

Michele Giuditta, CFA

Director

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Michele Giuditta, CFA

Michele Giuditta, CFA

Director

Michele is a director in the Institutional practice, specializing in research and consulting related to institutional investors and third-party allocators, including defined benefit plans, endowments, foundations, insurance companies, healthcare organizations, investment consultants, and outsourced chief investment officers (OCIOs). As the co-head of Cerulli’s Institutional practice, Michele leads research for annual reports and strategic consulting engagements. During her tenure at Cerulli, Michele’s research has covered topics including investment consultants and OCIOS, responsible investing, alternative investments, and institutional distribution trends.

Prior to joining Cerulli Associates, Michele worked at Cambridge Associates as an Associate Director in the Client Relationship Management Group. Additionally, she worked at Manulife Asset Management in the Institutional Investment Sales & Services Group, holding roles in Product Management and Client Relationship Management. She began her career as an analyst in the Investment Policy & Research Group at John Hancock.

Full biography here.

Gloria Pais

Gloria Pais

Research Analyst, Institutional

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Gloria Pais

Gloria Pais

Research Analyst, Institutional

Gloria is a Research Analyst in the Institutional practice, specializing in research and consulting related to institutional investors—including defined benefit plans, endowments, foundations, insurance companies, healthcare organizations—and third-party allocators, such as consultants and outsourced chief investment officers (OCIOs).

She contributes initiatives and the Institutional Investor Research Collaborative (IIRC), which provides asset owners with intelligence to equip investment leaders with research to the production of three annual reports and The Cerulli Edge—Institutional Edition.

Full biography here.

Brendan Powers, CFA

Brendan Powers, CFA

Director

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Brendan Powers, CFA

Brendan Powers, CFA

Director

Brendan is co-head of Cerulli’s Product Development and Institutional practices.

The Product Development practice focuses on trends related to asset managers’ product strategy, development, and management functions. This broadly includes assessing the opportunity for product line expansion, evaluating emerging product trends, assessing optimal pricing strategy, and understanding distribution and product positioning for investment products across retail and institutional channels.

The Institutional practice specializes in research and consulting related to institutional asset owners, including defined benefit plans, endowments, foundations, insurance companies, and healthcare organizations as well as third-party allocators including consultants and outsourced chief investment officers (OCIOs).

Full biography here.

Christopher Swansey

Christopher Swansey

Associate Director

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Christopher Swansey

Christopher Swansey

Associate Director

Christopher is an associate director on the institutional team where he leads the annual Outsourced Chief Investment Officer (OCIO) report and supports various strategic consulting projects throughout the year. He has previously led the annual Institutional Markets and Insurance General Accounts reports. He also leads the Institutional Investor Research Collaborative (IIRC), a research effort focused on connecting with and learning from institutional investors.

Christopher was a Senior Analyst at Mercer working within their executive compensation consulting practice before joining Cerulli in 2018.

Full biography here.

James Tamposi, CFA

James Tamposi, CFA

Associate Director

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James Tamposi, CFA

James Tamposi, CFA

Associate Director

James (Jack) is the lead author of The Cerulli Report—North American Institutional Markets and sets the agenda for The Cerulli Edge—U.S. Institutional Edition. Jack has led U.S. market entry strategy and U.S. institutional pricing optimization projects, supporting both foreign and domestic asset managers. During his time at Cerulli, he has contributed to reports across Cerulli’s suite of institutional research, focusing on topics such as insurance general accounts, outsourced chief investment officers, alternative investments, and U.S. subadvisory.

Prior to joining Cerulli, Jack worked as a Research Associate for Chatham Partners.

Full biography here.

Agnes Ugoji

Agnes Ugoji

Analyst

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Agnes Ugoji

Agnes Ugoji

Analyst

Agnes is an Analyst in the Institutional practice, specializing in research and consulting related to institutional investors—including defined benefit plans, endowments, foundations, insurance companies, healthcare organizations—and third-party allocators, such as consultants and outsourced chief investment officers (OCIOs).

As an analyst, she supports data processing, analysis, and survey management. She contributes to the Institutional Distribution Dynamics, North American Institutional Markets, and Outsourced Chief Investment Officer reports, as well as The Cerulli Edge—Institutional Edition.

Full biography here.

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CERULLI'S IIRC

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Cerulli’s Institutional Investors Research Collaborative (IIRC) provides asset owners—endowments and foundations, corporate defined benefit plans, public defined benefit plans, health and hospital systems, and insurance firms—intelligence to arm investment leaders with research and data to validate investment-related recommendations presented to board and committee members

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