Fewer ESG advertisers, higher volumes in Canada than in US

Data from Fundamental Monitor shows a drop in the portion of overall advertising dedicated to ESG

Key points:

• Canada saw bigger ESG advertising volumes than the US during Q1 2022, although there were more asset managers promoting ESG in the US that quarter
• Only 2% of all asset management advertising in North America during Q1 2022 was focused on ESG, compared to 5% in Q4 2021
• While brand campaigns made up 66% of ESG advertising during Q4, this had dropped to 41% by Q1 2022

Canada saw bigger ESG advertising volumes than the US during Q1 2022, although there were more asset managers promoting ESG in the US that quarter, data from Fundamental Monitor shows.

Only 2% of all asset management advertising in North America during Q1 2022 was focused on ESG, compared to 5% in Q4 2021. When only looking at the advertising by active ESG advertisers, 4% of their advertising was allocated to promoting ESG, compared to 27% in Q4 2021.

While brand campaigns made up 66% of ESG advertising during Q4, this had dropped to 41% by Q1 2022. On the other hand, the portion of insights and fund promotion increased from, respectively, 24% and 10% to 38% and 20%.  

The first quarter of 2022 also saw a drop in the number of ESG advertisers active in the North American market. While there were 21 asset managers actively promoting ESG in Q4, this number had fallen to 16 advertisers a quarter later.

During Q1, four advertisers were focused only on ESG: HSBC Global Asset Management, Interactive Advisors, Lombard Odier Investment Managers and Wellington Management. In the US, 13 asset managers were promoting ESG compared to three in Canada, but the highest ESG advertising volumes were seen in Canada.

Below are some examples of the ESG campaigns that were in market in North America during Q1 2022:

RBC

 Invesco

FlexShares