Doing Good
Are socially responsible investments much ado about nothing?
Even if you were born on a lily pad, it isn't always easy
being green. Recycling soda cans, detergent bottles and newspapers
is simple stuff compared to preserving the wetlands or saving the
whales. When it comes to socially relevant issues, it's wise to
remember that the evil men do lives after them, and saving the
planet is everyone's job. Some investors choose to take their
personal vision into the realm of their investment portfolios.
Ethical or socially responsible investing (SRI) began as far
back as the 1920s, when some church endowments avoided investing in
"sin stocks," including liquor, tobacco and gambling
companies. Social activism reached new heights during the Vietnam
War, and this translated into increased vigilance on the part of
investors in the 1960s. For the first time, many investors realized
that the comfortable companies that provided them with washing
machines and TV sets also made warheads and tanks.
With the birth of the Council on Economic Priorities in 1969,
public companies were rated on the essential issues of the period,
including military contracts, environmental pollution and minority
hiring practices.
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The politically correct climate of the 1990s has revitalized
public awareness about investor activism. More and more investors
are considering the products and services of companies in which
they invest with an eye to a double bottom line: They not only want
to know if the company is a good investment, they also want to know
if the company meets their chosen social criteria.
Over the last several years, the hottest issues to emerge in the
field of social investing have been environment and labor. Interest
in the traditional social issues of alcohol, tobacco, gambling and
weapons manufacturing has not diminished, either. Other popular
social investment concerns include contraceptives, abortion,
pornography, animal rights and nuclear power, to name a few.
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