Socially responsible investment in the UK—criteria that are used to evaluate suitability

Ethical and environmental investment criteria, collectively grouped under the title socially responsible investment (SRI), are becoming increasingly important factors in today's markets. Nowadays, banks, pension funds and other investment institutions frequently undertake some form of environmental risk analysis of an organization's relevant operational practices before committing themselves to direct investment. Factors such as a company's past pollution record, its future potential to contaminate and its overall social policy are often cited as important influences in this respect. Many funding institutions now have their own ethical investment arms, even if these are not part of their mainstream activity. Understanding the role of ‘ethical’ investors and their ‘ethical’ considerations is becoming increasing important to fund managers and businesses alike. The activities of fund managers who are specifically marketing themselves and their products as ‘ethical’ have been explored using an in-depth questionnaire, in order to determine the nature of the environmental and sustainability criteria that are used as a basis for directing investments, and the ways in which these factors are compared and balanced during the evaluation process. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. and ERP Environment.