Ethical investment - The policy of selecting stocks for your portfolio partly on the grounds of the ethical or environmental code pursued by the companies in question.If you ask ten people what they think is ethical you will get ten different answers. Ethical views, by their very nature, are subjective.The major exclusions tend to be arms, alcohol, tobacco, gambling, animal testing, environmental damage and the payment of exploitative wages in developing countries. But the list could extend almost indefinitely and a complete screening by the Ethical Investment Research Service (EIRIS) would eliminate 60% of the FTSE 100 index.You can screen out negative factors or adopt a positive screening process and select companies with a clear environmental policy, for example.An ethical fund or portfolio of shares requires an appropriate performance benchmark. It will not reflect the market movements as a whole as it will hold a higher than average proportion of smaller companies which are much more volatile than blue chips.EIRIS maintains a database which you can use to filter an existing portfolio or to build one from scratch, using your own selection of a wide range of criteria. EIRIS: 020 7840 5700. e-mail: ethics@eiris.org website http://www.eiris.orgIn February 2000 FTSE International launched a set of stock indices called FTSE4Good. This is a tradeable and benchmark index which requires member companies to meet certain ethical standards for inclusion.
Ethical investment : the policy of selecting stocks for your portfolio partly on the grounds of the ethical or environmental code pursued by the companies in question.if you ask ten people what they think is ethical you will get ten different answers. ethical views, by their very nature, are subjective.the major exclusions tend to be arms, alcohol, tobacco, gambling, animal testing, environmental damage and the payment of exploitative wages in developing countries. but the list could extend almost indefinitely and a complete screening by the ethical investment research service (eiris) would eliminate 60% of the ftse 100 index.you can screen out negative factors or adopt a positive screening process and select companies with a clear environmental policy, for example.an ethical fund or portfolio of shares requires an appropriate performance benchmark. it will not reflect the market movements as a whole as it will hold a higher than average proportion of smaller companies which are much more volatile than blue chips.eiris maintains a database which you can use to filter an existing portfolio or to build one from scratch, using your own selection of a wide range of criteria. eiris: 020 7840 5700. e-mail: ethics@eiris.org website http://www.eiris.orgin february 2000 ftse international launched a set of stock indices called ftse4good. this is a tradeable and benchmark index which requires member companies to meet certain ethical standards for inclusion.
Ethical investment