"Survey data from more than 400 senior investment professionals provides insights into why and how investors use environmental, social, and governance (ESG) information as well as the challenges in using this information. This study also documents what investors believe will be important ESG styles in the future…

The primary reason survey respondents consider ESG information in investment decisions is because they consider it financially material to investment performance. ESG information is perceived to provide information primarily about risk rather than a company′s competitive positioning."

[COMMENTARY] A study concerning ESG co-authored by Harvard’s George Serafeim is always an important read. The co-author Amir Amel-Zadeh of Oxford University’s Saïd Business School has impressive credentials as well.
Why and How Investors Use ESG Information: Evidence from a Global Survey, by Amir Amel-Zadeh and George Serafeim, March 13, 2017, Harvard Business School Working Knowledge, USA.