APAC sees record number of ESG advertisers in Q4

Asset managers also on average increased the percentage of advertising they allocated to ESG

Key points:

• APAC saw a record number of 28 ESG advertisers during Q4 2021
• Asset managers have also increased the portion of advertising budget allocated to the promotion of ESG in the region
• When it comes to the purpose of their ESG advertising, there weren’t any major shifts during Q4

A record number of asset managers were promoting ESG in the Asia Pacific region during Q4 2021, according to data from Fundamental Monitor.

During Q4, a total of 28 advertisers were promoting ESG in APAC, compared to 21 ESG advertisers in Q3.

Asset managers have also increased the portion of advertising budget allocated to the promotion of ESG in the region. During Q4, asset managers allocated 28% of their total advertising in the APAC region to promoting ESG, up from 19% in Q3.

Among the advertisers who were actively promoting ESG, on average 43% of total advertising budget was focused on ESG. This was down from Q3, when active ESG advertisers allocated 51% of their advertising to ESG.

When it comes to the purpose of their ESG advertising, there weren’t any major shifts during Q4. At 57%, insights continued to be the most popular ad purpose for ESG advertisers, followed by fund promotion (30%) and brand (13%). Compared to Q3, the share of insights remained almost stable, while fund promotion rose from 24% and brand dropped from 19%.

All markets monitored by Fundamental Monitor saw some ESG advertising activity during Q4, but the most different advertisers were active in Australia (16), Singapore (15) and Hong Kong (13).

Ten advertisers were solely focused on promoting ESG in Q4: Amundi Asset Management, Robeco, Aviva Investors, Natixis Global Asset Management, UOB Asset Management, FE Investments, Ninety One, Federated Hermes, Lombard Odier Investment Managers and Gresham House.

Below are some examples of the type of ESG campaigns that were in market in APAC during Q4 2021: