A study by British fund manager Schroders has revealed that higher returns are fuelling sustainable investments for Americans instead of the positive societal and environmental effects of such investments.

The study polled over 23,000 people across 32 locations globally, including 2,000 in the US.

Fifty-five percent of the US respondents said they prefer sustainable investments due to their more attractive return profile.

At the same time, just 4% said that they will refrain from such investments due to the perception of inferior returns. This marks a significant change from 2018, when the figure was 27%.

Moreover, 57% of Americans said two years ago that they did not have sufficient sustainable investing data.

Currently, 53% of American advisers are offering information on the same every time they interact with clients, which is higher than the global average of 33%.

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Regarding corporate behaviour, the study found social issues, mainly human capital management and staff treatment, the key concerns of Americans though climate change is also a priority.

On a scale of 1 to 10, social responsibility and treatment of staff ranked as the two main factors for Americans at 7.69 and 7.63, respectively.

Schroders North America CEO Marc Brookman said: “It is exciting to see the sustainable investment conversation move from values, to value-creation.

“US investors are increasingly convinced that there is no trade-off between performance and sustainable investing and in fact, many social issues will be a driver of returns, today and in the future.”

Sustainability has always been a key part of Schroders’ agenda.

Notably, last year, the firm picked a majority stake in Swiss impact investment management firm BlueOrchard.