Sustainable Investments 2005 status report – first comprehensive market study

Sustainable investments are becoming increasingly important. In 2006, adelphi compiled the first market overview on the sustainable investment market in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. In the two following years, two further studies were published which examined developments and trends. As part of the study series, financial service providers from the three German-speaking countries in question were surveyed with regard to their involvement in sustainable investments. The objective of the studies was to gather general data regarding the sustainable investment market, such as the volume of sustainable investment funds open to the general public, as well as the volumes of mandates and certificates. In contrast to market reviews from other authors, the subject of the survey was the investments held by investors in the respective countries. The 2005 Status Report (along with the other investigations in the series) thus delivers far more precise figures.

The 2005 Status Report shows, among other things, that the total volume of the sustainable investment market for the three German-speaking countries combined was 14 billion euros at the end of 2005. Over 6 billion euros was invested in Germany. Swiss investors, including the AHV state equalization fund, had accumulated over 6.8 billion euros of sustainable investment capital by the end of 2005. Austrian investors, including the employee welfare funds, had invested over 1.4 billion euros sustainably at the end of 2005.