A study by the UK based Association of Investment Companies (AIC) has found 55% of private investors say they prefer engaging with a company over its ESG practices, but exclusion still forms an important part of the investment case.

The study, which looked at responses from a sample of 402 people was conducted by Research in Finance, and looked into the usefulness of various ESG disclosures for clients making their investment decisions.

It found that although the majority of the investors polled were "not convinced" that divestment was the answer, the most useful disclosure was a list of exclusions about what the company would not investment in.

Each contributor ranked the various measures from one to five, the latter meaning ‘very useful'.

An exclusion list averaged 4.2, just ahead of a positive screening list at 4.1, which is is a list of sectors of types of companies that a firm will and aims to invest in.

Ultimately, the most useful metrics for ESG were the ones that provided relevant information into the makeup of a company and the only ones to average a score over four.

The researchers said: "Respondents' comments revealed a strong desire for greater consistency among ESG disclosures as well as independent accreditation, to help benchmark funds against each other."

Other high ranking metrics were ESG fund ratings (3.9), measurements of the investment company's environmental and/or social impact (3.9) and a statement of the investment company's ESG policy or strategy (3.8).

At the lowest end, the least useful metric was the size of a company's ESG team or level of resources, ranked eleventh at 3.3. But this was only just below the other metrics.

Annabel Brodie-Smith, communications director at the AIC, said: "Private investors are clearly interested in ESG disclosures, and find several types of disclosure useful.

"However, there is a preference for the clear and factual over disclosures that may seem more abstract or subjective."

She added that the AIC introduced ESG disclosures last year, so investors could more easily compares the various policies and strategies alongside performance data, but is looking to do more.

"Since then we have gathered feedback from both private investors and professionals to help us and our members improve the disclosures over time," she said.