Do Sustainable Private Investors Get What They ask For?

To understand if investment advisors are responsive to private investors’ sustainability preferences, we send trained mystery shoppers to 414 investment consultations. Our findings show that although investment advisors are legally required to inquire private investors’ sustainability preferences, in 22 percent of the cases investment advisors commit misconduct by not inquiring about these preferences. On average, only 47 percent of recommended products match ex-pressed preferences. Furthermore, we find a strong divergence in the retail banking landscape and demonstrate that the query of sustainability preferences and the suitability of investment advisors’ product recommendations differ significantly between public, commercial and cooperative banks.