National Ethical Investment Week (May 19-23 2008)
This week sees the first ever National Ethical Investment Week launch – www.neiw.org for more info. According to various reports total ethical funds managed in the UK now total just under £9bn spread over almost 100 different funds. It seems "ethical" investment is nothing short of mainstream…
For me ethical investment is such an important force in the economy. From the launch of Friends Provident Stewardship fund in 1984 there has been a publicly acknowledged difference between funds and their investments – those that have been made purely in the pursuit of profit and those that have been made following some ethical scrutiny. Pioneered initially with negatively screened investment – a list of things that the fund would not be used to back – arms, tobacco, child labour etc – ethical fund management now positively directs funds in to opportunities that not only adhered to the limits but also sought to address social and/or environmental issues.
Social enterprise, environmental initiatives, renewable energy, Community Interest Companies (CIC’s) and "not just for profits" have never been so prominent in the UK. In just 3 years, for example, just under 1700 CIC’s have been registered in the UK. However, getting investment that suits the aims and objectives of these vehicles is not as easy as you might think.
If you are an ethical enterprise and are seeking investment of any description I would like to hear from you. If you want to tell your story or submit a scenario please post a comment here of email tom@ethical-junction.org. We are about to launch a forum and discussing winning suitable ethical investment is going to be a key part of it.
Below are a few links to sites that might help.
http://www.ethical-junction.org/financial/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2008/may/17/ethicalmoney.moneyinvestments
May 20th, 2008 at 3:40 pm
I worry that quality ethical investment advice is not easy to find. I strongly recommend the Ethical Investment Association (EIA) whose website is http://www.ethicalinvestment.org.uk to members of Ethical Junction. Ethical Investment Association members are experienced in ethical and environmental investment – not many Independent Financial Advisers are.