The Difference Between Sustainable Investing and Traditional Investing

Traditional investment is a way of converting investors' capital into investment opportunities that involve risks commensurate with expected returns.

Sustainable investing

, on the other hand, combines traditional investment approaches with environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) knowledge to improve long-term results. This combination of traditional and ESG knowledge has enabled investors to generate more comprehensive analyses and make better investment decisions. Sustainable investing is a series of practices in which investors seek to obtain financial returns while also promoting long-term environmental or social value.

It has become increasingly popular due to the demand of millennials and impact investors who are concerned with ethical investing or financing companies with intrinsic values that have a positive impact and drive change. It has also been shown that people and companies can benefit economically by making their investments more sustainable. Traditional investing focuses on profitability as the main factor in selecting investments, while sustainable investing ensures that companies are not judged solely by short-term financial gains, but by a broader view of what they contribute to society and how they contribute to it. If you're an individual investor or a business leader interested in sustainability, taking an online course focused on sustainable investment can be an effective way to quickly gain the knowledge and skills you need to succeed.

Approximately 38% of investors who participated in a recent survey reported having allocated assets to a responsible investment strategy, while 66% said that recent climate disasters had made them more interested in responsible investment. You could benefit from having personalized investment strategies and a professional to manage your investments. Socially responsible investment goes one step further than ESG by eliminating or adding investments based solely on a specific ethical consideration. The main difference between traditional investment and socially responsible investment (SRI) is that your objectives will be different for each strategy.