Questionnaire on ESG Investment for Asset Owners

China Sustainable Investment Forum (China SIF), in collaboration with SynTao Green Finance and China Southern Asset Management, is conducting a survey to understand asset owners’ attitudes when making ESG investments in the Chinese domestic market. We hope this research can better guide China’s asset managers to meet the ESG needs of asset owners.

We want to invite you to participate in this survey sincerely. It will only take a maximum of 30 minutes of your time to complete the close-end questions. You can choose whether to disclose the name of the individual or/and your organization in our final report. Your responses will be kept confidential and will not be made public.

Thank you for your time and participation. If you have any questions, please get in touch with us at contact@chinasif.org.
1.Basic Information
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1.Where is your organisation based?
Mainland China
Hong Kong, China
The Asia Pacific
Europe
North America
The Middle East
Others
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2.What is your organisation's investment in China as a percentage of AUM? (Offshore organisations only)
Less than20%
20%-39%
40%-59%
60%-79%
80%-100%
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3.In which range is your organisation's AUM (USD)?
Below $ 1 billion
$1 bn - $5 bn (not including $5 bn)
$5 bn - $10 bn (not including $10 bn)
$10 bn - $50 bn (not including $50 bn)
$50 bn - $100 bn (not including $100 bn)
More than $100 bn
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4.What is the nature of your organisation?
Pensions
Insurance
Sovereign Fund
Family Office
Endowment
Bank wealth management (Mainland China only)
Others
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5.What percentage of your organisation's assets in China are managed by external managers?
Less than 20%
20%-39%
40%-59%
60%-79%
80%-100%
2.Responsible Investment Awareness
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1.How does your organisation see the importance of responsible investment in China?
Very important
Of some importance
Fairly important
Not very important
Unimportant
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2.Has your organisation adopted responsible investment in China?
ESG factors have been systematically integrated into investment decisions
Have taken ESG considerations into account in investment decisions
Occasionally consider ESG factors in investment decisions
Have not yet incorporated ESG considerations in investment decisions but plan to start doing so within five years
Have not included ESG considerations in investment decisions and will not do so for another five years
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3.What percentage of your organisation's AUM in China considers ESG factors?
Less than 50%
50%-99%
100%
Not sure
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4.Which factors would motivate your organisation to incorporate more ESG factors into investment decisions in China? 【Please sort the items】
  • Principal/Beneficiary needs
  • Regulatory requirements
  • Mitigating ESG risks
  • Generating excess returns
  • Increasing organisational reputation/responding to public pressure
  • Others
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5.How does your organisation perceive the relationship between applying ESG strategies and investment returns? 【Multiple】
The application of ESG strategies helps to reduce investment risk
The application of ESG strategies can help increase investment returns
Applying ESG strategies may reduce investment returns
If the investment loss due to the application of ESG strategy is within the acceptable range, ESG investment will still be maintained
There is no relationship between ESG strategies and investment returns
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6.Is there a difference in the ESG strategy your organisation uses in emerging and developed markets? 
Significantly different
Somewhat different
Slightly different
No difference
Not sure
Not applicable
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7.What are the reasons behind your organisation's different ESG strategies in emerging and developed markets? 【Multiple】
Difficulty in obtaining ESG information on emerging market investment targets
Lack of correlation between ESG performance and financial returns or risk levels of emerging market investees
Difficulty in addressing ESG risks in emerging markets
Lack of consistent ESG-related standards in emerging markets
Significant differences in regulatory requirements between countries and regions in emerging markets
Lack of reliable asset managers with ESG approaches/strategies
Lack of professional ESG service providers
Others
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8.Which of the following ESG investment-related initiatives or organisations is your organisation a signatory to? 【Multiple】
Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI)
Supporting organisations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosure (TCFD)
Organisational Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC), the Asian Investors Group on Climate Change (AIGCC), or Climate Action 100+
Supporting organisations of the CDP
UN-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance, GFANZ
Green Finance Committee (GFC) of the China Finance Association
Others
None of the above
3.ESG Governance
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9.Does your organisation have an ESG/responsible investment policy and ESG integration process?
A stand-alone responsible investment policy and a systematic ESG integration process are in place
Have a broader policy that incorporates responsible investment-related elements and has some ESG analysis methodology
Have an ESG analysis methodology but have not yet integrated ESG-related elements into the governance structure
Under development
No, but plans to develop within the next five years
No, and development is not envisaged in the next five years
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10.Does your organisation have the following governance structure?【Multiple】
ESG-related structures are in place at the management level. For example, there is an ESG investment decision-making committee, ESG investments are covered in the work of the investment/risk control committee, or there is a senior executive with dedicated responsibility for ESG work
ESG-related structures are in place at the executive level;
There are employees responsible for ESG-related work on a partial basis
Hiring an external team to carry out ESG-related work
None of the above
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11.Does your organization have people working full-time on ESG-related tasks?
Yes, more than ten persons
Yes, 6-10 persons
Yes, 1-5 persons
None.
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12.Does your organisation have ESG-related training? 【Multiple】
ESG training is available for all company personnel, amounting to more than 4 hours per annum
ESG training is available for all company personnel, amounting to less than 4 hours per annum
ESG training is available for management for a total of more than 8 hours per annum
ESG training is available for management for a total of 8 hours or less per annum
ESG training is available for designated ESG staff for a total of more than 16 hours per annum
ESG training is available for designated ESG staff for a total of 16 hours or less per annum
No ESG-related training has been undertaken
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13.When selecting an asset manager in China, does your organisation consider the asset manager's ability to assess the ESG performance of its investment targets?
Always considers
Sometimes considers
Not at the moment, but plans to consider it within the next five years
No, and neither in the next five years
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14.In China, which ESG investment capabilities of an asset manager do your organisation value most? 【Please sort the items】
  • Mature ESG investment awareness
  • A well-developed ESG integration process
  • A complete ESG governance framework
  • Talented personnel with ESG expertise
  • Systematic ESG analysis methodology
  • Adequate and accurate ESG data
  • Ability to apply ESG strategies to deliver satisfactory returns on investment
4.Responsible Investment Practices
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15.In which of the following asset classes has your organisation considered ESG factors in its investments in China?【Multiple】
Listed stocks
Fixed income
Private equity
Hedge funds
Infrastructure
Real Estate
Commodities
Others
None of the above
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16.What environmental issues does your organization focus on when investing in China?【Multiple】
Climate change
Pollution control
Energy saving and consumption reduction
Biodiversity
*
17.What social issues does your organization focus on when investing in China?【Multiple】
Labour Rights
Product Quality
Customer relations
Information Security
Community relations
Supply Chain Management
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18.What governance issues does your organization focus on when investing in China?【Multiple】
Business Ethics
Governance Structure
Compliance Management
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19.Please select three of the following sectors that your organisation considers to have the highest ESG risk in China.【Please select 3 item】
Agriculture, forestry, livestock farming and fishery
Mining
Manufacturing
Construction
Electricity, heat and gas
Transport, storage and logistics
Information technology
Wholesale and retail
Finance and insurance
Real Estate
Water, environment and utilities
Social services
Communication and cultural industries
General/other sectors
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20.Which responsible investment methods does your organisation use for its investments in China? 【Multiple】
Excluding companies with poor ESG performance
Selecting companies with good ESG performance
Select industries and projects that are environmentally friendly and have social benefits
Engage with portfolio companies to improve their ESG management
ESG integration
Impact investment
Other integration methods
None of the above
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21.In China, what are the ways to engage with your investees about ESG issues? 【Multiple】
Engagement with current or potential investors/issuers
Voting at general meetings
Submitting shareholder resolutions/proposals
Direct presence on the board of directors and board committees of the investee
Litigation
Public statements (e.g. media articles)
None of the above
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22.What are your organisation’s measures for achieving net zero in China? 【Multiple】
My organisation has set a portfolio net zero target
My organisation has set a portfolio carbon peak target
My organisation has set a climate-related governance structure
My organisation has carried out scenario analysis or stress testing
My organisation has started to measure the carbon footprints of the portfolio
My organisation has started to analyse climate-related risks or opportunities
My organisation has not deployed any climate-related work
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23.What are some of your organisation’s difficulties in conducting responsible investment in China? 【Multiple】
Difficulty in obtaining ESG information on investment targets
Insufficient methodologies to assess the ESG performance of investment targets
Difficulty in assessing the carbon footprint of the portfolio
Difficulty in measuring the financial return and risk level of ESG investments
Lack of correlation between the ESG performance of investment targets and the level of financial return or risk
Difficulty in measuring the sustainable development outcomes of investments or the positive ESG impacts achieved
Lack of reliable asset managers with ESG approach/strategy
Lack of professional ESG service providers
Others
5.ESG Information Disclosure
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24.How should asset managers appointed in China regularly report on the responsible investments they make? 【Multiple】
Describe the methods and measures used to assess and address ESG risks
Describe the methods and measures used to identify ESG opportunities
Describe the sustainability outcomes of the portfolio or the positive impact achieved in terms of ESG
A description of the portfolio performance using ESG analysis
Disclosure in the PRI Transparency Report
Follow the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)
No disclosure of responsible investment is required
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25.What are the current difficulties in accessing ESG information in China? 【Multiple】
Poor ESG information disclosure
Lack of quantitative ESG information in information disclosure
Inconsistent standards on information disclosure
Disparity in the availability of ESG information across asset classes
Inability to verify the authenticity and quality of ESG information disclosure
Lack of accreditation and auditing of ESG information disclosure
High variability between ESG ratings provided by different rating agencies
Others
6.Others
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26.Would you like to disclose your (organization’s) name in the research report based on this questionnaire? 【Multiple】
I would like to disclose my organization’s name
I would like to disclose my position
I would like to disclose my name
I would like to keep anonymous
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27.Would you like to have a follow up-call with China SIF to have an in-depth discussion about ESG investments in China?
Yes, Email or Tel:
No
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