Earlier this month, we emailed our clients highlighting an insight report about China from EdenTree Investment Management.
At Ethical Futures we want to keep up to date with our clients’ views and opinions so that we can offer the most appropriate investment funds. Therefore, we also attached a short survey with that email to help understand our clients’ opinions on the issues raised by EdenTree. We were pleased that people took the time to respond so now we would like to share some of the responses and themes that came out of this research.
We asked six questions in the survey, starting with an open question about your general view of China from an investment perspective and then focussing on specific issues raised in the insight report. Opinion was split between those who would prefer to disengage from investing due to the oppressive nature of the regime, to those who feel investors should carry out thorough research but work to support international businesses that may contribute to positive environmental and social outcomes in China.
The main points that the survey highlighted include:
- Concerns about labour standards
- Concerns that Chinese authorities supress information
- Helping companies to become greener
- The need for higher environmental and governance standards
- A preference for investing in green bonds
- The need for Chinese companies to be subject to strong criteria regarding international standards and corporate governance
- There are too many concerns and therefore it’s best to just avoid China as much as possible
Overall, the main theme that became evident was that China needs to improve their standards surrounding green investments and ethical standards for our clients to be enthusiastic about investing. This doesn’t surprise us as the insight did raise some concerns regarding China’s attitude regarding environmental issues such as greenhouse gases and we are aware that the environment is a priority for many of our clients.
The results from this survey have helped us to form a clearer view on what our clients want in regards to China. At Ethical Futures we want to make sure we feed back the opinions of our investors to the investment decision makers so we’ll be sharing the results of the survey with EdenTree. After all, that’s how we make your money change your world!
It is important to take professional advice before making any decision relating to your personal finances. Information within this article does not provide individual tailored investment advice and is for guidance only. We cannot assume legal liability for any errors or omissions it might contain. Ethical Futures llp is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.