Dr. Martha O'Hagan-Luff, associate professor of finance, secured the funding for a cutting-edge research project: INVESTGREEN - Saving for Sustainability: What factors affect decisions to invest sustainably.

The aim of INVESTGREEN is to investigate the role that investors can play in addressing our climate and biodiversity crises, by advancing the understanding of the factors that motivate or deter pension fund allocation to investments in sustainable economic activities. The externalities of financial investments are often mispriced, leading to suboptimal outcomes for society as a whole. The standard definitions and measurement of risk and return in financial investments need to be redefined to incorporate environmental and societal goals rather than the current narrow constructs of financial performance. This research will create a conceptual framework of the behavioural aspects that affect the incorporation of broader societal goals into financial decision making.

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