What is Ethical Investing?

The majority of investment managers today use some form of environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) overlay in helping them decide on what companies or areas to invest in. 

It is becoming more commonly accepted that, for a company to prosper over time every company must not only deliver on financial performance but also show how it makes a positive contribution to society. What is the long term vision and how does that company fit in an ever changing world?

Examples include:

  • How a company interacts with the environment

  • Social factors like employee diversity or safety standards

  • Along with the overall governance structure. 

A conscious investment strategy.

Whilst it is now true that only a minority of managers today do not use some form of ESG analysis, there are more and more opportunities for investors to implement their own beliefs and guiding principles into their investment portfolio. This can be done via negatively screening out or excluding certain industries, sectors companies, practices or even countries from an investment portfolio. Traditional ethical investment strategies seek to avoid issues like tobacco, weapons, gambling or pornography and are increasingly interested in strategies that avoid sectors linked to climate change or abuse of human rights. 

Sustainable investing is a type of investing that considers ESG issues alongside standard financial measures when assessing a company’s performance. This is different to Impact investing which have a clear preference for a social or environmental purpose of an investment over or alongside its financial results. They aim to deliver a positive outcome as an alternative to, or to compliment, traditional philanthropic funding. 

Whether you consider yourself as having a more sustainable investment preference or are interested in impact investing, there is strong evidence to suggest that such an approach will not hamper investment returns and possibly only strengthen them. Over the last 10 years Ethical Investment funds have outperformed more traditional investment funds. 

At JKLM Wealth Group we have a personal interest in Ethical Investing and walking the walk, and not just talking the talk.