Sure, you’d like to be financially well-off. Maybe even rich! But how does that square with your desire to “do good”?
For years socially-responsible investing has gained momentum. Finally, we’re at a tipping point where investors can feel confident enough to invest with their heads and their hearts. So how do you begin?
First, determine what SR (socially responsible) criteria is most important to you. For example, do you care most about the environment? Social justice issues? Equality? Or something else? It is difficult to compare apples to oranges when it comes to investments. So, the first step is to determine what SR investing means to you personally. Which issue is closest to your heart?
Secondly, decide how strictly you want your investments to follow your selected SR objective. For example, some environmental funds will not invest in a company with green initiatives if that company also suffers from human rights, fair wage, or other social issues. You can find the philosophy of a particular fund in its prospectus or website. Make sure your level of commitment is in alignment with the fund’s manager. (If buying an individual stock, read up on the CEO’s commitment to particular initiatives).
Thirdly, evaluate if you want to invest in a fund or a specific stock. You will make this decision based on your time horizons and available funds earmarked for investment. There are advantages to both. With a fund you can spread your investment dollars across a spectrum of companies committed to a particular goal. Owning a specific stock allows you to directly reward a company whose policies you admire, and gives you direct voting rights to future policies (as opposed to voting rights only a mutual fund’s decisions).
Evaluating investments based on socially responsible criteria only adds a little more time to the evaluation process. But by participating you can literally change the world — and your wallet at the same time. Care to share any of your investments and why you selected them?
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Further Reading
Tags: Company, Funds, Investing, Investment, Mutual fund, socially responsible, Stock, Stock market
May 5th, 2008 at 10:51 am
wow, investing with socially responsible criteria, i haven’t thought about it before. In my view, this kind of investing needs more homeworks than ordinary investing.
May 7th, 2008 at 11:29 am
Good post on socially responsible investing!
I’ve been following socially responsible investing for some forty years and have a site that interested readers might find useful. It covers the latest global news and research on the subject. It’s at http://investingforthesoul.com/
Good luck and best wishes, Ron Robins
July 7th, 2008 at 11:37 am
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October 24th, 2008 at 1:30 pm
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October 27th, 2008 at 11:29 am
This is a great post on SRI guidelines. The financial crisis has really publicized some of the worst practices on Wall Street, many of which socially conscious investors have worked to remedy over the years. It’s good to see the global financial crisis take center stage during the SRI in the Rockies’ responsible investment industry conference with the belief that a more socially responsible approach to investing can—and should—play a role in helping to transform the investing world. Here is their link for those interested in learning more on this event: http://www.SRIintheRockies.com
April 6th, 2009 at 11:58 pm
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