Ask almost any investor publicly and they will confidently tell you that well-behaved companies are also more profitable companies in the long-run. Privately however, fewer than half of pension fund investors say they are sure of that.

That's the finding of Hermes' latest 'responsible capitalism' survey, which asked 104 pension funds, mainly in the UK and continental Europe, about the importance of environmental and social issues, and good corporate governance, to their investments.