SYDNEY, Sept. 26, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- A national research study has been launched by Macquarie University and moomoo to investigate how sustainable trading education and transparency of company social responsibility credentials impact Australian investor behaviour. The industry-first study will explore the behaviour of multiple groups of investors to understand how both face-to-face education and exposure to a company's ESG score influences a person's decision to invest.

ESG or Sustainable, Responsible and Impact-based (SRI) investing - investing that prioritises both financial returns and social change - has been gaining popularity in recent years amid a global shift towards more socially conscious behaviour.

Professor Tom Smith, one of the leading finance academics in Australia and the leading expert in Environmental Finance at Macquarie University, is conducting in-depth research on ESG investing. According to his observations, Professor Smith said it is still unclear as to what extent the social responsibility of an organisation influences Australian retail investors, and exactly what obstacles impede retail investors from engaging in impact investing.

"We have a good understanding of the importance a company's financial performance plays in investor decisions, but we don't yet have enough information in Australia to truly understand the role a company's ESG performance plays in the decision process," said Professor Smith.

"This is an industry-first study that will examine the growing global trend towards being more socially conscious and what we expect of organisations, from both an institutional and retail investor perspective."

"This study will help us to better understand the drivers and barriers affecting socially conscious investor behaviour - and shed insight on how decisions change when investors have greater knowledge of where their money is really going."

Participants will trade ASX and US stocks over a three-month period using moomoo's simulated trading environment that reflects actual trading conditions with real market inputs.

Through the study, Macquarie University researchers will examine the behaviour of a controlled group of participants against other cohorts of investors, with varying levels of intervention.

These interventions will include education training sessions on why and how to conduct SRI investing, and how to access information about an organisation's social impact.

Steve Zeng, Head of Global Strategy and CEO of Australia at Futu Holdings, said the company is uniquely placed to partner with the university for this study because it could swiftly adapt its platform to accommodate any of the study's recommended changes, should it be needed. The moomoo app is backed by strong technological innovation capabilities and its research and development team accounts for approximately 70% of moomoo and its parent company Futu's total workforce.

"The powerful investment and analysis tools available on our platform will provide insightful and real-time data to support Macquarie University in understanding the impacts of ESG reporting in a simulated trading environment," said Mr. Zeng.

"As part of our commitment to responsible investing, we want to better understand what influences investor behaviour decisions, and whether an organisation's social impact should be more accessible to investors."

"We know that internationally, ESG-ranked stocks are increasing in popularity, in some cases regardless of their performance, - which indicates a growing preference in ESG/SRI investing."

According to moomoo's analysis of trading behaviour amongst its US customers, the proportion of investors trading and holding ESG-focused stocks has trended up each quarter in the last two years.

Additionally, the number of investors holding ESG stocks increased at more than twice the rate of investors overall.

Since its launch in the Australian market in March, moomoo is rapidly expanding its presence and, through the sharing of investing knowledge and market insights via its platform, helping Australian investors to put responsible investing into practice.

Moomoo is a technology-led investment and trading platform that offers Australians access to global markets, real-time market data and visualised company financial analysis.

About Moomoo 

Based in Sydney, NSW, Australia, Futu Securities (Australia) Ltd is an indirect and wholly-owned subsidiary of Futu Holdings Ltd, an advanced technology company transforming the investing experience by offering a fully digitized brokerage and wealth management platform.

Moomoo's mission is to provide all investors with an intuitive and powerful investing platform, built with proprietary technology. We leverage our deep technological R&D capabilities and future-focused operating model to constantly improve our clients' experience and drive industry-wide innovation.

Securities services available on the moomoo App are offered by but not limited to the following brokerage firms: Futu Securities (Australia) Ltd regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC); Moomoo Financial Inc. regulated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Moomoo Financial Singapore Pte. Ltd. regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), and Futu Securities International (Hong Kong) Ltd. regulated by the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong (SFC).

Moomoo Financial Inc. is a member of the U.S. Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC). The SIPC provides limited protection over an investor's U.S. securities and cash when a member brokerage firm is to be liquidated. SIPC does not protect against losses due to market volatility.

SOURCE Futu Securities (Australia) Ltd.