If you thought ethics and money can never go hand in hand, think again. With terms like sustainable food and ethical consumption gaining worldwide attention, millions of investors across the world are making investment decisions that will reflect their values. They are supporting business organizations that have been able to strike a balance between profit making and social responsibility. The fact that the financial bottom line is no more the sole criteria to measure the success of investment decisions, the concept of ethical investment has gained tremendous popularity in the last few years.
Ethical investment has resulted in a “triple bottom line” under which economic, social and environmental consequences are taken into serious consideration in the process of investment. Sustainable investment is all about knowing what your money is doing. It goes beyond the sole objective of expecting a reasonable return on the money being invested.
Religious organizations making moral based investment is a thing of the past. Sustainable investment may have reached the common investor after a long time but it seems this concept is now here to stay. Number of individual stocks and collective funds are available out there for people who want to invest with a conscience. However, experts recommend investors to determine their attitude to risk before putting money into companies with high risk factor such as renewable energy. Every ethical fund has different goals and policies and it is essential to conduct a research and choose the one which meets your requirements.
Environmental and government laws target business activities that are exploiting and polluting natural resources but what about the mutual funds, pension plans and banks that are providing finance to such companies? Integrating ethics and investment together is not as hard as projected by many companies. Its time investors realize the impact of funding businesses that are adding up to climate change and carbon footprint. Worse might follow if financial institutions fail to exercise any reforms in saving the economy from the climate crisis. More investment needs to be directed towards good work and making a positive difference to the environment and communities.
Kevin Long is the founder of Global Deaf Connection and the co-founder of Justmeans, a social utility site that helps companies to attract and ignite advocates of better business. Kevin has done significant business development work for both for-profit and non-profit organizations that support good work.