Four-fifths investors view ESG very important - HSBC survey

    More issuers and investors in Hong Kong are starting to widen their horizons to include the impact of environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues into consideration, but on some metrics they still lag behind their regional and global peers, according to a survey commissioned by HSBC.
  HSBC's Sustainable Financing and Investing Report 2019 showed that in Hong Kong, 82% of investors and 80% of issuers say ESG factors are "very" or "somewhat" important to them, closely behind Asia's overall figures of 86% and 84%.
  The report has found that broad social values including social and environmental issues have become a significant factor for investors and issuers in Hong Kong. 54% of surveyed Hong Kong issuers say they care about ESG issues because it aligns with their values as an organisation, and 54% of investors because it is right to care about the world and society.
  Hong Kong investors recognize the commercial benefits of ESG investing and financing, with 54% of respondents saying that doing so can improve investment returns or reduce risks, against the global and Asia figures of 54% and 58% respectively.
  But while Hong Kong investors also are catching up on ESG, they still lag behind their peers. Some 44% of surveyed Hong Kong investors have a responsible investing or an ESG policy, lower than the comparable figure for global and Asia of 62% and 49% respectively. However, 36% do intend to develop a policy, which will bring Hong Kong much closer to global levels.
  A third of Hong Kong surveyed issuers make no ESG disclosures, while 12% of investors disclose ESG characteristics of portfolios, against Asia's figures of 24% and close to 20% respectively. The recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) are an example of a common standard that issuers and investors could use to improve ESG disclosure.
  "Environmental and social factors are becoming priorities for both issuers and investors in Hong Kong and Asia, and there is increasing recognition that these factors are drivers of yield and value," said Jonathan Drew, Head of Sustainable Finance, Asia-Pacific, HSBC.