ESG advertising share declines in Europe

However, data by Fundamental Monitor finds a higher number of ESG advertisers

Key points:

• Asset managers dedicated 8% of their overall advertising to the promotion of responsible investing during Q3 2024, down from 17% in Q2.
• All major markets saw some ESG advertising activity, with the most advertisers active in the UK (19), followed by Germany (13) and the Benelux (12).
• The ESG advertisers shifted the majority of their promotion from insights promotion towards brand campaigns during Q3.

Asset managers dedicated 8% of their overall advertising to the promotion of responsible investing during Q3 2024, down from 17% in Q2, data by Fundamental Monitor shows.

A total of 127 advertisers were active in the European market in Q3, with 34 asset managers including some ESG messaging in their advertising. These 34 advertisers dedicated 12% of their overall advertising to the promotion of ESG, down from 23% in Q2.

There were three managers who only focused on ESG advertising: Macquarie, EB-SIM and CCLA. All major markets saw some ESG advertising activity, with the most advertisers active in the UK (19), followed by Germany (13) and the Benelux (12).

The ESG advertisers shifted the majority of their promotion from insights promotion towards brand campaigns during Q3. During Q2, the promotion of thought leadership accounted for 92% of all ESG advertising, but this decreased to 21% in Q3, while the share of brand campaigns increased from 5% to 54%. Fund promotion saw an increase as well, from 3% to 24%.

Data from Alphix Solutions shows that European investors’ content consumption on the topic ESG on asset managers’ websites was higher than the 365-day rolling average between mid-July until the end of August at between 3% and 22%, depending on the week. During the rest of the quarter, consumption was lower than average by between 2% and 15%.

However, there were significant differences between countries. While ESG content consumption was down for the full quarter in Germany (by between 7% and 39%) and the Nordics (by between 9% and 53%), in France investors consumed more ESG content than average for most weeks, by between 1% and 150% during the third week of August, but then consumption dropped to below average for the next three weeks. All other markets were a mixed bag, with consumption usually down for the majority of the quarter, but with three or four positive weeks.

Below are some examples of the type of ESG campaigns that were in market in Europe during Q3 2024:

Federated Hermes

Nordea Asset Management

PGIM Investments