Sustainability preferences and financial decision-making among mutual fund investors

Abstract

In our representative sample of Swedish mutual fund investors, those who are sustainability motivated perceive investment choices more difficult than other investors. Of those who are sustainability motivated, 38 percent have never actively invested in a sustainable fund. Preferences for sustainable investment as well as the attentiveness of the investment decisions correlate with certain investor attributes. Young people and women value sustainability higher than others and women make their investment choice less attentively than men. Investors making the choice inattentively are less influenced by financial information. Nudges, such as sustainability labels, may be a more effective way of communicating with this group.