Communicating ESG in Financial Services & Capital Markets
Estimated read time: 6 minutes
Our recent whitepaper, Marketing ESG in 2024: Risks, Rewards & Riddles, lifted the lid on what marketeers and comms professionals really thought about ESG in their roles. In this follow-up, we take a look specifically at the global financial services and capital markets sector data from the wider research.
The original survey polled 418 senior marketing decision makers across the energy, financial services and technology sectors, split evenly across the APAC, Middle East, UK and US Markets.
Attitudes to B2B Financial Services ESG Communications: What do financial services comms and marketing professionals think?
Professionals in this sector have a mature understanding of ESG from a communications perspective, as shown by the fact that they are the sector most likely to recognize the risk and opportunities of communicating on the topic evenly. Furthermore, they are more likely than average to see a blend of risk and opportunity in either direction.
This mature understanding translates to confidence when communicating: fewer professionals versus other sectors avoid the topic whenever possible or restrict themselves to the bare essentials. They are most likely to see it as an important (but not core) theme.
Beyond the communications function, professionals say that their organization treats ESG as an important but not strategic priority (23 percent), or a ‘nice to have’ (21 percent). Fourteen percent do say it counts among the organization’s strategic priorities, and a further 14 percent view it as core.
It appears that professionals rank ESG more highly as a communications theme than a business strategic priority. Is this cause for concern? Annabel Rivero, Deputy Head of Financial Services at Aspectus doesn’t think so: “The reality is that, outside a handful of businesses who provide ESG specific services, ESG is just one of the many things on companies’ plates right now. That said, with critical and ambivalent headlines around ESG abounding in the media, they know the risk of getting it wrong, so communications professionals recognize they need to treat it with outsized care as a topic.”
On a personal level, though few respondents in the sector profess passion across the ESG board, nearly half say they care deeply about some aspects of ESG performance or care a little. Few don’t care at all, suggesting ESG is an important opportunity for many to find meaning in their work.
Care and consequences: Are financial services professionals properly supported?
We also asked whether communications and marketing professionals feel adequately supported in B2B financial services ESG communications. In this respect, professionals feel exposed: only 37 percent believe they have a good degree or all the resources they need to do their job effectively, while 43 percent believe the opposite. Twenty-one percent even report a severe lack of resources.
The deficit is worse for financial services professionals: they are more likely than their peers to report both slight and severe underresourcing.
Is this a source of risk? Yes, but to no greater or lesser extent than for other sectors. Respondents roughly track the average when asked whether they could recall accassions where “we have had to communicate around ESG (on our organizations’ behalf or our clients’), when I have not felt the message has been fully justified or appropriate”.
Such scenarios introduce the risk of inadvertant greenwashing (or ESG-washing, impact-washing etc) – an injurious comms misstep. It is worrying that so many have been put in this position, especially considering the sector’s mature understanding of the risks of doing so.
Tim Focas, Head of Capital Markets at Aspectus, comments: “These are tightly regulated sectors, and a common theme of the past few years has been regulators cracking down on percieved greenwashing – see the FCA’s SFD rules or the EU fund taxonomy for examples. With that in mind, it’s worrying to see so many respondents express concern on this topic, and to say they aren’t adequately supported. As these regulations begin to bite, we must hope that this number falls and communicators are given the resoources they need.”
Facing the future: Is ESG here to stay?
According to 47 percent of our total respondents, ESG is a passing trend that will disappear, or at least subside, while 28 percent think it won’t disappear, but will have to evolve. Only nine percent think ESG as we see it today will be a permanent fixture.
For financial services professionals, evolution is the name of the game. Only 37 percent think ESG is a flash in the pan, while 10 percent see it as a permanent fixture and 47 percent say it will evolve rather than fade away.
This belief may be why 23 percent of B2B financial services ESG communications professionals think that the term ESG needs a new name – but curiously the same percentage of respondents think that the term is fit for purpose, and the same again think it works but needs clearer messaging.
Kirsten Scott, Professional Services Lead at Aspectus interprets the discrepency: “The fact that respondents are most likely to say ESG will evolve, yet are mainly satisfied with the term itself suggests that behind all the ‘death of ESG’ headlines, what professionals really want to see is diligent, iterative improvement in how the theme is defined and applied to their sector – few communicators want to rip it up and start again.”
Want to know more about the practical and strategic considerations for effectively communicating your ESG efforts? Download our ESG whitepaper.
Key takeaways:
Do B2B financial services ESG communications and marketing professionals think of ESG as more of a risk or opportunity?
Respondents In this sector have the most balanced view of the risks and opportunities, weighting each relatively evenly.
Do financial services communications and marketing professionals care about ESG?
A significant minority do care to some extent about at least some aspects of ESG performance, though few are passionate about ESG overall. This suggests a tailored approach to ESG comms and marketing Is especially Important In this sector.
Do financial services communications and marketing professionals have enough resources and support to communicate around ESG?
Across the board, our respondents report needing greater support and resourcing to communicate effectively around ESG. Financial services professionals seem to report a greater degree of deficit, but do not report that this has translated into more risky communications strategies.
Do financial services communications and marketing professionals think ESG is here to stay?
While over a third think ESG will subside or disappear, the majority believe that ESG Is here to stay In either Its current form or following some form of evolution.
About the author:
Chris Bowman is an Associate Director at Aspectus and co-leads Aspectus’ ESG services. His experience is primarily in the energy and financial services sectors, and Chris specializes in brand strategy and messaging. He recently completed a short course on Sustainability Communication Strategies from the LSE.
Read more from this series:
Communicating ESG in B2B Energy: what professionals really think
Communicating ESG in B2B Tech: what professionals really think
Communicating ESG in the UK: what professionals really think
Communicating ESG in APAC: what professionals really think
Communicating ESG in the Middle East: what professionals really think
