Majority of property investment firms lack sustainability incentives for staff



Some 57% of real estate investors do not have ESG incentives linked to rewards for staff, revealed new data from Evora Global.


According to the firm’s ‘ESG Market Leadership’ report — which details the views of 121 real estate investors and professionals — only 43% of investment companies are linking ESG criteria to pay or bonuses in any way.

However, the report found that most investors now look at ESG data alongside other financial information when considering asset values.

It also highlighted that ESG training was increasingly important for investors, with 62% running training programmes for staff on the subject. 

In addition, 83% of survey respondents said they either have, or plan to have, an ESG training program to upskill relevant staff on relevant regulations and integration to support investment decision-making.

Chris Bennett, managing director at Evora Global (pictured above), claims that while there has been progress in ESG adoption, sustainable investment is still not the norm.

“Investors are starting to take a longer-term view when it comes to property and large assets; they are using ESG data more and more, and sustainability is now a serious consideration. 

“However, we are still waiting for strong and obvious incentives to be brought by the majority of investors, which will encourage the big step change that’s needed in how decisions are made. 

“When the majority adopt those incentives, it will transform property and asset investment.

“ESG is rising up the agenda; it has gone from something which is ‘nice to have’ to a key metric for investors.

“I urge all investors to grasp the opportunity to better integrate sustainable investment into their business models and to use pay and bonus incentives to achieve that.”

Chris added that collecting high-quality ESG data is very important, as accurate asset valuations depends upon it. 

"It is evident that a growing number of investors consider ESG data as relevant as financial data — this means it will be even more important to produce high-quality ESG data. 

“Also, if performance and ESG are to be linked through bonuses, professionals will demand it to be as dependable as any other financial metric.”

Evora Global's ‘ESG Market Leadership’ survey is the first part of three investor surveys being released through December. 

Part two will focus on ESG data and part three on future proofing asset value.



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