Nearly 75 percent of CFA Institute-certified portfolio managers and analysts in the U.S. and Canada use environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors in making investment decisions, the group reported in a survey released Monday.

But while the vast majority called ESG factors important, only 28 percent said their firms give training on how to use these considerations in their work.

Sixty-four percent of the professionals said they use ESG data for managing risk, while only 4 percent said it was due while regulatory obligations.

Fifty-one percent of respondents said they get information on ESG practices at companies from public disclosures to regulators.

“Every investment analyst should be able to identify and properly evaluate investment risks, and ESG issues are a part of this," CFA President and CEO Paul Smith said in a prepared statement. 

Thirty-seven percent said it is their fiduciary duty to consider these issues, while an equal number view strong ESG practices as a sign of quality management at companies they are or are considering investing in.

Slightly under half of the investment professionals, 44 percent, said clients are demanding they take a close look at ESG.

Governance was the issue considered most often by the professionals, with 64 percent examining it, followed by 50 percent for environmental concerns and 49 percent for social.

The poll was conducted May 26 to June 15 of 863 CFA certificate holders in the two countries. The margin of error is plus or minus 2.7 percent.