Investors Views on Sustainability Assurance and Its Impact on Investment Decisions

This study explores the importance of independent assurance of sustainability reports to investors and its impact on their investment decisions. A survey was conducted targeting professional investors from large investment firms in developed countries. The findings reveal that the majority of investors consider ESG information and independent assurance of sustainability reports when making investment decisions. Investors employ different approaches to assess ESG information and agree that public listed firms should annually publish ESG information that is subjected to independent assurance. Investors identified several benefits of independent assur-ance, including increased trust and credibility, reduced risk, better engagement from the board and CEO, strengthened internal reporting systems, and improved communication with stakeholders. The study contributes to the existing literature by verifying the importance of independent assurance of sustainability reports from an investor's perspective and provides implications for practitioners and future research.