Socially Responsible Investing
If you’ve begun to question the broader implications of the investment strategy you currently employ or have realized your investment holdings no longer align with your concern for social and environmental issues, it’s time to learn more about Responsible Investing. The term Socially Responsible Investing (SRI), or simply Responsible Investing, applies to an investment strategy that allows individual and institutional investors to hold well-balanced portfolios designed for performance and return without investing in companies whose activities are at odds with specific Responsible Investing tenets.
Learn the basics of responsible investing.
Negative Screening
Among the activities most SRI fund managers try to avoid are companies who are involved in the following areas:
Weapons contracting
Tobacco manufacturing
Pornography
Nuclear power
Positive Screening
In general, the SRI fund managers will proactively select companies that demonstrate leadership in a variety of areas. These positive screens include the following areas:
International labour standards
Environmental impact
Employee relations
Gender and cultural equality policies
Shareholder Advocacy
SRI fund companies will use all of the available means of shareholder advocacy to encourage companies to become better social performers. They employ an active shareholder approach in conjunction with other socially responsible investors, which includes corporate engagement pertaining to controversial issues. In terms of proxy voting, the majority of SRI fund companies publish their votes after the end of each quarter along with our rationale for each vote.
Community Development
In addition to mutual funds, you can also invest in exchange traded funds (ETF) that represent a specific market sector. ETFs trade on the stock market and represent a basket of companies, often specific to a certain market sector. There are ETFs that invest in wind power, clean tech and other alternative energies.
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Free Download: Social Responsible Investing
Download the basics of socially responsible investing and compelling ROI information from the Jantzi Social Index® (JSI).
