This might be explained by the fact that current Sustainability Reports – which are meant to provide additional information – are only rarely considered helpful when trading ESG stocks.
While it seems that trading may not be mainly driven by ESG oriented strategies, demand for green bonds remains high.
In 2021, 43% of issued corporate bonds were issued as‘green’ and 74% of traders expect this to increase even more over the next two years.
When asked about rating the significance of underlying aspects within the acronym ESG, over four of five traders perceive environmental as the dominant factor, followed by social and governance.
Overall, the survey found that half of the 194 traders polled expect continued stability within the market for the second half of 2022.
This is broken down into 93% wee neutral or optimistic about the market outlook, compared to 86% at this time last year.
SIX Swiss Exchange, which polled 194 traders, conducted the survey in Q2 2022, with respondents from across Europe -Switzerland, France, Germany, UK& Ireland, the Netherlands and Lichtenstein.
After two years of continued uncertainty, political, social, and economic turmoil, traders are seeing economic factors emerging as stronger than global politics. Around 75% cite inflation and increasing interest rates ,as the biggest factors driving trading activity compared to 47% mentioning the Ukraine War and 43% pointing to supply chain challenges.
Covid recovery ranked lowest in terms of impact on trading activity, with only 9% of respondents citing it versus 46% last year.
“The results of the survey clearly highlight concerns over the unpredictable nature of global markets heading into H2 2022,” said Tony Shaw, head of sales UK & Ireland at SIX Swiss Exchange.
He added, “Despite the emergence of ESG as a major investment driver in the past few years, interest from traders has now given way to more pressing issues with the prospect of economic downturn on the horizon.
It is now more vital than ever that institutions and traders have a trustworthy and well-regulated provider to provide a stable trading environment in these volatile times.”
©Markets Media Europe 2022
