|
 |
Home / Features / About CE / Advertise / Yogamates.com / Contact Us | |
|
 |
|
 |
Hawken Critique of Socially Responsible Investing Misses Key Trends and ImpactsWednesday October 6, 2004 11:00 pm ET WASHINGTON, Oct. 6 | PRNewswire | Socially and environmentally responsible mutual funds actively and effectively screen for tobacco, weapons of mass destruction, the environment, and other key issues, and engage in shareholder advocacy to encourage more responsible industry practices, the Social Investment Forum (SIF) noted today. SIF also confirmed in its response to Paul Hawken's article, "Is Your Money Where Your Heart Is?," published in Common Ground, that its members are setting best practices for the socially responsible investing (SRI) field. Social Investment Forum Vice President Alisa Gravitz said, "Hawken is correct that there are no rigid standards dictated for SRI funds to follow in the United States. However, this is a strength, not a weakness, of this field. SRI funds offer a wide range of options for investors in order to meet diverse ethical and investing criteria." Gravitz added, "Hawken is also correct in noting that there are leaders amongst SRI funds, but he failed to note in his piece that these leaders are all part of the SRI trade organization in the US, the Social Investment Forum (SIF). SIF members are setting the standards in screening, advancing corporate governance, pursuing social and environmental corporate responsibility, and advocating for greater disclosures in their own industry, as well as in Corporate America." The Forum released the following facts: 1) Active screening. The Hawken article implies that most or all SRI mutual funds hold "problem companies." However, Social Investment Forum members lead their field in portfolio screening. The vast majority (82 percent) of Forum members have five or more social and environmental screens that they apply to their portfolios. More specifically, 93 percent of Forum member funds have strong environmental screens and 71 percent actively seek out companies that are environmental leaders. 2) Shareholder advocacy. Hawken questions why some socially responsible mutual funds hold the stock of problem companies. The simple answer is these investments permit SRI funds to dialogue with companies and file shareholder resolutions, which are only open to stockholders of the companies in question. Social Investment Forum member funds are active filers of shareholder resolutions, which requires deliberately holding companies in their portfolios in order to press for greater social and environmental reform. As owners of companies, SRI shareholder advocates played a key role in important corporate social and environmental responsibility advances, including:
3) SRI equals screening plus advocacy plus community investing. Most SRI mutual funds do not achieve an impact through just screening stocks alone. In addition to screening their portfolios, 70 percent of SIF member funds are improving corporations and communities by also engaging in shareholder advocacy and/or community investing (investing in low-income communities) -- high-impact work not mentioned in Hawken's article. The Social Investment Forum and its members have led a successful campaign to grow community investing from $5 billion to over $14 billion over the last three years. The Social Investment Forum (www.socialinvest.org) is the national trade association for the social investment industry in the US. It is dedicated to the concept, practice, and growth of socially responsible investing. The Forum's more than 500 members include financial planners, banks, mutual fund companies, research companies, shareholder advocates, foundations, and community investing institutions. Source: Social Investment Forum Return to the SRI Discussion Index Page |
 |
Recommend This Page To A Friend