Women and millennial-aged advisors are more likely to express interest in responsible investing strategies, according to Eaton Vance’s 2nd quarter Advisor Top-of-Mind Index.

“Both millennial and female advisors anticipate an increase in responsible investing engagement with their clients,” said Anthony Eames, vice president and director of responsible investing strategy with Calvert Research and Management in Boston.

Since Eaton Vance acquired Calvert Investments in 2016, the socially responsible investing stalwart is enjoying new levels of product development and exposure among investors right at a time when interest in environmental, social and governance (ESG), which often overlaps with impact investing, is gaining momentum worldwide.

“People want customized socially responsible portfolios based on their priorities like gender equality or environmentally friendly," says Eames. “Calvert has a range of solutions that allow investors access to the global capital markets.”

Eames added that Calvert is also developing additional options on the fixed-income and equity side, which will provide greater flexibility for investors interested in customized socially responsible investments.

“We have active, passive, international, thematic, equity and fixed-income responsible investing options that we can deliver in different formats, depending on client needs,” Eames says.

About 27 percent of all advisors are discussing responsible investing with clients, according to Eaton Vance's research. While 35 percent of male advisors this year expect to increase their responsible investing recommendations, that compares to 44 percent of female advisors and 41 percent of millennial-aged advisors, the research finds.

“Millennial investors want to invest in good companies today, and they don't feel like there should be a sacrifice in terms of performance or building a portfolio to do that,” says Eames. “Financial advisors need to be ready for their requests.”

Although the average financial advisor may believe creating a diversified portfolio of ESG investments is too expensive or difficult to accomplish, portfolio products are emerging to help them.

Some 60 percent of institutional investors and asset managers in North America are investing in sustainable investment strategies, such as green bonds, sustainable bonds and thematic funds, according to a 2017 BNP Paribas Securities Services study.

"These sustainable investment strategies allow investors a direct way to invest in ESG strategies without needing to undertake the type of analysis required to understand the ESG profile of an individual company,” said Jean-Philippe Hecquet, product specialist with the investment risk and performance team at BNP Paribas. “This is particularly true for fixed income, which is more difficult to measure from an ESG perspective.”

Calvert’s thematic mutual funds include a focus on global clean water and global energy solutions.

“We invest in labeled green bonds including ones issued by the World Bank,” Eames says. "We also invest in asset-backed securities and structured securities that support environmentally friendly projects, such as Toyota’s asset backed security, which is financed by loans to hybrid electric cars.”

Investor tendency toward passive, low-cost investing options and the proliferation of ETFs, index funds and smart-beta funds have also influenced responsible investing product offerings.

For example, Calvert introduced a line of low-cost, socially responsible indexes.  “Socially responsible Calvert ETFs are definitely something we are considering in terms of future product development because that's where the demand is and that's what investors and advisors are asking for,” says Eames. “Our suite of low-cost, socially responsible index funds currently addresses advisor and investor needs, but there is also a desire for ETFs and the additional flexibility to manage tax liabilities.”

Until Calvert launches their ESG ETF options, the Oppenheimer ESG Revenue ETF and the Oppenheimer Global ESG Revenue ETF are two relatively new ways to invest in ESG through ETFs.

“ESG has become a very big topic for investors and for companies around the world due to a combination of factors including societal awareness and governmental and regulatory pressure,” says Hecquet. “It is also now widely recognized that incorporating these factors into investment analysis can boost returns and so is becoming part of mainstream asset management.”