Private equity investors are looking to increase their exposure to funds focused on renewable energy, clean technology and sustainability investments, on the basis that green investments will generate high financial returns, research released Tuesday shows.

Two-thirds of institutional investors worldwide have already made green investments but the majority currently allocate less than 5% of their planned investments, according to a poll carried out jointly New Energy World Network and research firm AltAssets. This is expected to change substantially with just 6% of those polled saying they didn't want any exposure to green funds and the others planning to increase exposure, some to as much as 20% of their total annual allocation to private equity.