ABSTRACT

In recent years, the responsible investment (RI) market in German-speaking countries has experienced strong growth. Although it is still a niche market, it has the potential to move in the direction of more mainstream investment practices. In German-speaking countries, RI refers to investments that complement the usual indicators of profit, liquidity and risk with ecological, social and ethical (ESG) indicators. In German-speaking countries, RI is often called ‘sustainable investment’. The RI markets in Germany, Austria and Switzerland together have a value of $164.9 billion (Forum Nachhaltige Geldanalge [FNG], 2013). From a research perspective, RI is still in its infancy in these three German-speaking countries.