Published on:
17/11/2023

61% of investors say faster adoption of artificial intelligence, including risk management, is “very”, or “extremely important” to companies’ value creation, according to consultancy PwC’s annual global investor survey.  Including responses noting “moderately important”, this jumps to 85%. 

Investors identified technological change (59%) as the factor most likely to influence how companies create value over the next three years. Innovation and emerging technologies (including AI, the metaverse, and blockchain) are among their top five priorities when evaluating companies. 

“Nonetheless, 86% see AI presenting considerable risk from a ”moderate” to “very large extent” when it comes to data security and privacy; insufficient governance and controls (84%), misinformation (83%); and bias and discrimination (72%)”, PwC says. 

94% believe corporate reporting on sustainability performance contains unsupported claims.

The survey finds that while macroeconomic and inflationary concerns are still top-of mind, they have eased from 2022’s highs. Climate risks have risen considerably, putting it on par with cyber risk – at 32%.

“All the while, the survey paints a picture of an investment landscape driven by technological transformation: 59% identified technological change as the most likely factor to influence how companies create value over the next three years. In particular, 61% say faster adoption of AI is “very” or “extremely important”.

75% say that how a company manages sustainability related risks and opportunities is an important factor in their investment decisions, although this is down 4% on last year. 

“We are moving from a period of awareness raising around the importance of climate and technological change to a time where investors are increasingly asking specific and tough questions about how companies are addressing those issues in their strategy, how they assess risk and opportunity and what is truly material for them”m says James Chalmers,Global Assurance Leader, PwC UK.

“In this context, corporate reporting needs to continue to evolve so it provides reliable, consistent and comparable information investors – and other stakeholders – can rely on.”

94% of investors believe corporate reporting on sustainability performance contains some level of unsupported claims (up from 87% in 2022), including 15% who think they are there to a “very large extent”. 

“The focus of investors on meeting the cost of ESG commitments has also risen, with 76% finding this information important or very important. Investors also want information on a company’s impact on society or the environment, and of those, 75% agree that companies should disclose the monetary value of their impact on the environment or society, up from 66% in 2022”, PwC says.