Sustainable, responsible, impact (SRI) investing will grow in the future with women advisors leading the way, according to a survey of nearly 2,000 advisors conducted by the First Affirmative Financial Network.

According to the First Affirmative survey on the "Views of Financial Professionals About SRI" released Thursday, nearly half (49 percent) of the 1,913 advisors surveyed say they have offered an SRI option to their clients, mostly because the clients requested it.

Female advisors are more open to offering SRI investing than male advisors, according to the survey.  Sixty-one percent of female advisors say they have offered SRI options to clients, compared with 47 percent of male advisors. At the same time, female advisors are roughly twice as likely as men to say that SRI will become a bigger aspect of the industry in the next five years: 29 percent versus 15 percent.

Women financial professionals are more likely than their male counterparts to say that they are very aware of SRI investing (43 percent versus 33 percent). They also are more likely than men to say that they are open to offering SRI options in the next five years (39 percent versus 30 percent).

Thirty-one percent of those surveyed who have offered SRI options in the past believe that SRI will grow in the next five years. Of those who have not offered SRI investments as an alternative, 58 percent say they have never considered it, mostly because of a lack of understanding about SRI investing.

First Affirmative, an independent RIA based in Colorado Springs, is hosting a conference on SRI investing from Nov. 9 through Nov. 11 in Colorado Springs.

“The survey results show that SRI investing has become entrenched in mainstream finance,” says Betsy Moszeter, First Affirmative senior vice president. “Having reached the point where one out of two financial professionals have offered SRI options to their clients, it is clear that responsible investment strategies are now a client expectation that advisors need to be equipped to provide.”