The socially responsible investing (SRI) movement has been gathering momentum for the last 20 years or so. According to the 2008 PRI Report on Progress from the United Nations Economic Program during the previous 12 months the number of signatories to the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) "has almost doubled to approximately 360 institutions," representing more than $14 trillion in assets.
Adam Seitchik, CIO of Trillium Asset Management, "the oldest and largest independent investment manager dedicated to responsible investing, in the United States," says while that sounds very encouraging, a lot of it depends on how you define "responsible."
"If you look at the Principles for Responsible Investing which came out from the U.N.," he says, "there's nothing in there about negative screening and some of the other things that have been traditionally attached to socially responsible investing." Instead there's emphasis on how environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors can have an impact portfolios in the long run.
