Why are Millennial investors so concerned with sustainability?

According to a new UBS report in the US, millennials as a generation will likely be worth $24 trillion by 2020.  Millennials are more connected and aware of global issues than ever, which is changing the way they approach investing their wealth.

​The UBS report concludes:

​Young investors are not only looking for financial returns — they want to put that wealth to work for the public good.  Specifically these investors prioritize mainstream impact investing and other sustainability-related initiatives.

Is this a surprise?

The experience of people born to prosperous families in the developed economies of the western world in the last thirty years or so is a mixture of personal comfort and privilege, combined with threat.  The implication of their experience is that their way of life, with its comforts and privileges, is not sustainable.

If we want to reverse the tendency for others to try to destroy our way of life, we have to stop destroying it ourselves.  Why wouldn’t Millennials want to use their wealth to work for a sustainable economic code of practice in our own society?  They must think that if they don’t, who will?  Our leaders have done precious little to set an example in the last two decades, now less than ever.

This might sound bleak, but it does not seem bleak to them.  There are answers.  Investment organisations specialising in sustainability (our own Green Angel Syndicate included) attract a lot of attention for this reason.  We are saying, there are answers within our reach which do not require ideological belief, or scientific complexity.  They are accessible to us.  They require commitment to commercial engagement.  Build business around wiser resource use and care for its sustainability, and you will make the world a better place.

If you want to know more about the work of Green Angel Syndicate, contact Nick Lyth (nick@greenangelsyndicate.com) or Simon Acland (simon@greenangelsyndicate.com)