Sustainable finance: retail investors have higher expectations of their financial advisors
According to the 3rd edition of the OpinionWay barometer for the Autorité des Marchés Financiers, although the French are still unfamiliar with responsible investment, 76% of them consider the impact of these investments on the environment to be an important issue, and increasing numbers of them expect proposals and advice on responsible investment.
The AMF Household Savings Observatory has published the results of its biennial survey on responsible investment, conducted online by OpinionWay, from 12 to 20 May 2025, among a representative sample of 2,006 French people aged 18 and over. The aim of this survey is to track changes in French people's knowledge and perceptions in this field.
Some of the main findings were:
Sustainable development issues remain a major concern for a majority of French people, including young people
Despite a slight fall, 63% consider them to be important (compared with 66% in 2023), including 16% who find them "very important". This tendency is particularly marked among young people: 19% of under-35s and as many as 24% of under-25s consider them to be "very important". In addition, 76% believe that the environmental impact of responsible investment is an important issue (including 22% who say it is "very important"), a figure that has remained stable since 2021.
Higher expectations of financial advisors
A majority of French people (72%) turn first to their bank or financial advisor for information about responsible investments, far ahead of the media (20%) or the Internet (11%), a proportion up five points on 2023. Nearly seven out of ten French people (69%) think it is important for their advisor to ask them whether they would like to make responsible investments, a trend that is on the rise (+5 points) and this approach is gaining momentum: 16% have already answered this type of questions (+6 points). Consideration of this issue when providing investment advice has been mandatory since August 2022. Interactions on this subject are better perceived: 82% of clients who have questioned their advisor say they are satisfied (compared with 69% in 2023) and 12% say their advisor has already offered them a responsible investment.
Knowledge is not improving and doubts remain as regards sustainability
While 64% of French people have heard of responsible investment, only 12% are well informed about it and 59% doubt that it is really responsible. Fewer than one in two (44%, stable compared to 2023) believe that such investments have a real environmental impact. This mistrust also applies to labels: although 28% of French people have heard of the SRI label and 18% of Greenfin, only 25% and 29% respectively have full trust that they guarantee the responsible nature of an investment.
Sustainable finance is a priority for the AMF, which is committed to helping retail investors transition their investments. Today, collecting investors' sustainability preferences remains a complex task and the AMF supports simplification of the client journey in this area. Nevertheless, advisor training remains the key. Although this examination is currently optional, the regulator strongly recommends it in view of the expectations expressed during this study.
About the AMF
The AMF is an independent public authority responsible for ensuring that savings invested in financial products are protected and that investors are provided with adequate information. The AMF also supervises the orderly operations of markets.Visit our website https://www.amf-france.org/en
