A study from fund group Schroders shows more than half (56%) of UK investors increased their allocation to sustainable investments over the past five years and 68% said investing sustainably has become more important to them.

Schroders surveyed 1,000 people in the UK who will be investing at least €10,000 in the next 12 months and who have made changes to their investments within the last ten years.

The findings suggest millennials are driving the move to more sustainable investing with 85% of those aged 18-36 stating it has become more important compared to 47% of those aged 65 and over.

Almost a third (31%) of millennials allocated over half of their portfolio to investing sustainably compared to 9% for people 65 plus.

The findings also indicate that investors are increasingly convinced robust returns and positive impact are not mutually exclusive.

Only a quarter of UK investors were concerned that investing sustainably would hinder investment outcomes.

Jessica Ground, global head of stewardship, Schroders, said: “This survey underlines the rapid growth of interest in sustainable investing. The fact that 56% of investors have increased their allocation to sustainable investments in the past five years tells you how important this is for so many people.

“Specifically, it’s encouraging to see that investors no longer appear to be held back from investing sustainably by concerns that this approach may hamper returns.”

‘Sustainable business practices will be more successful’

Adrian Lowcock, head of personal investing at investment platform Willis Owen, said the idea of sustainability makes a lot of sense for investors.

“The growing view is that companies with sustainable business practices will be more successful over the longer term, and there is good evidence to back this up.

“Studies have shown those that implement sustainable considerations produce higher profits and share price returns than their counterparts who fail to react,” he said.

He added: “A good example of how things have changed is the Exxon Valdez incident in 1989, which barely impacted on Exxon’s share price, while the Macondo Well incident in April 2010 resulted in a halving in of BP’s share price and huge fines for the business.”

For investors who want to invest in a sustainable fund, here are a list of products available: