Sustainable investing
Invest for returns and drive change
There’s always a purpose behind financial investments. What’s yours? Perhaps it’s performance. Or preserving your wealth for the next generation. Or maybe you want your investments to reflect your values. Whatever your purpose, sustainable investing may hold the answer.
There’s plenty to consider when it comes to sustainable investing, so it’s worth starting by getting familiar with the topic.
What is sustainable investing?
What is sustainable investing?
Sustainable investing takes into account the environmental, social and governmental challenges our world faces. For instance, this could relate to the overuse of natural resources, rising levels of pollution or the effects of increasing urbanization.
It’s a way to invest for the returns you expect while staying true to your values. It may be caring about a cause, looking to drive social change or wanting to have sway over how a company or even a country conducts itself.
Myth vs. reality
Myth vs. reality
As with any new investment approach, there are a number of myths around sustainable investing. Here’s our take on them.
Myth
You sacrifice performance
Myth
You can’t measure the impact
Myth
You need to be an expert
How to invest sustainability?
How to invest sustainability?
Learn everything you need to know to make a difference.
There are three main ways to invest sustainably:
There are three main ways to invest sustainably:
Exclusion
Exclude companies and industries that don’t reflect your values from your portfolio.
Integration
Integrate environmental, social and corporate governance factors into your portfolio to improve your returns and reduce risk.
Impact Investing
Invest with the intention to generate measurable environmental and social impact, alongside a financial return.
What are the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals?
What are the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals?
Per the United Nations, the Sustainable Development Goals are the blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all. They address the global challenges we face, including those related to poverty, inequality, climate, environmental degradation, prosperity, and peace and justice. Each Sustainable Development Goal includes clear targets and indicators to track progress toward these objectives.
The goals interconnect. To ensure that no one is left behind, the UN believes it is important that each goal and target is achieved by 2030.
From UBS’s perspective, while not all the SDGs are appropriate for private, return-seeking capital, the scale of many of the related challenges gives rise to significant long-term investment opportunities.4
Sustainability in action
Sustainability in action
Click on the tiles below and explore the stories.
Tackling the world's most critical problems together
Our WEF 2020 whitepaper focuses on ways in which investors can align their investments towards a climate smart future.
Return on values
For UBS Investor Watch: Return on values, we surveyed more than 5,300 investors in 10 countries on sustainable investing. Explore our report and discover the key findings.
Why UBS is your right partner?
Why UBS is your right partner?
We want to shape the future of sustainable investing. We are also confident that sustainable investing will soon become the world's most widely accepted way of investing.1, 2
Furthermore, as the world's leading wealth manager,3 we feel responsible for helping change things for the better. We have the capital, solutions and expertise to make a big difference globally.
These aren’t just words. We walk the talk. In 2017, we pledge to support our clients in investing USD 5 billion into impact investments over the next five years to help plug funding gaps needed to reach the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). And you’ll always have a team of sustainable investing experts helping you do more for your finances and the world.
Explore other topics
Explore other topics
Insights
Insights
We help you look at the big picture. Stay informed with market insights and information on topics that matter to you.
The price and value of investments and income derived from them can go down as well as up. You may not get back the amount originally invested.
UBS does not provide tax or legal advice. You should consult your independent tax/legal advisor for specific advice before entering into or refraining from entering into any services or investments.
