The UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association’s (UKSIF’s) institutional investor members were surveyed in November 2025 to gauge the investment community’s experience and use of sustainability data from investee companies and wider assets. Sustainability data – specifically the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) information that companies and assets disclose – is increasingly crucial for financial markets.

The collated data from the survey data reveals that institutional investors see sustainability factors – especially climate risk (scoring 8.1/10) and governance (8.3/10) – as core to their investment analysis and decision making.

However, respondents feel the quality of the ESG data they receive could be improved, with two-thirds rating it ‘moderate’ and none rating it ‘very high’. The range of data challenges included: the accuracy of company disclosures (cited by 85% of respondents), difficulty verifying data (70%), gaps in data coverage (70%), and data costs (65%).

The vast majority of respondents said they use ESG data to assess financial risks, with 84% of respondents saying ESG data is more important for understanding the risks to an investment’s value over its external impacts.