Some 60% of respondents to the Global Pensions 100 Panel believe socially responsible investments have not added value to their portfolios.
The results echo the findings of recent research by EDHEC Risk Institute, which found SRI strategies have not proven to outperform more traditional funds and did not safeguard assets during the financial crisis (see page 8 for full story).
EDHEC's report paralleled findings from its earlier study in 2008 showing the funds did not produce significant alpha.
"In most cases alpha is negative and not statistically significant," wrote Nöel Amenc, director at EDHEC and Véronique le Sourd, senior research engineer.
However, 40% of the panel had seen a positive result from SRI. One respondent said: "Corporate governance funds have significantly improved stock performance over the last 20-plus years."
Another replied: "The SRI investments in our fund are not equity-related and did not go down with the market."
