Millennials are driving the growth in impact investing, according to Fidelity Charitable.
Thirty-four percent of all investors surveyed said they participate in impact investing, but 61% of millennials said they are impact investors, according to the Fidelity Charitable survey released today.
Forty-one percent of all investors, also said they plan to increase their investments that are designed to have a positive community impact within the next year, and only 2% said they will decrease their impact investment, according to the survey.
“Impact investing is poised to become a mainstream practice,” Fidelity Charitable said. In particular, millennials, usually defined as those people born between 1980 and 2000, are adopting impact investing as a way to influence society, according to the survey of 1,216 people with more than $25,000 in investable assets outside their employer sponsored retirement plans.
Financial advisors play a key role in making the impact investing decisions, according to Fidelity Charitable. Thirty-nine percent of those who have not participated in impact investing said the barrier to their participation is a lack of knowledge about the options. In addition, 31% said they would turn to their financial advisor to help them close the knowledge gap and become successful impact investors.
Forty-two percent of those who already are impact investors said their financial advisors were key players helping them gain the knowledge they needed and another 30% said they learned from materials they received from their investment firms.
Initiating values-based conversations with clients and educating them on the full range of options available to align their investments with those values can deepen client relationships and build multigenerational financial plans, Fidelity Charitable said. Advisors who are knowledgeable and confident about impact investing will be in the best position to take advantage of this opportunity.
Impact investing is the idea of using one’s investment choices to help achieve social benefits while also generating financial returns. Most commonly, it means investing in mutual funds, indexes or individual publicly traded companies screened for particular criteria, such as environmental, social, or governance impact. This provides capital to address key challenges in sectors like sustainable agriculture, microfinance, and access to basic services like housing and healthcare, Fidelity Charitable said.
“In addition to the personal fulfillment that comes with aligning their investments with their values, millennials also believe in impact investing’s real power to do good,” the organization said. A total of 62% believe the practice has greater potential than traditional forms of philanthropy to create long-term positive change.
In addition, two-thirds of millennial investors said they also believe impact investing is a smart investment.