UK goes ethical with its money
As ethical funds have attracted over £6bn (about US$12bn) in the UK – there are over 50 socially responsible investment products available in the country – it seems like that concerns about climate change and animal welfare have reached the conscience of the financial world. These products promise us the opportunity to green up this aspect of our lives as well, or at least the possibility to lessen the impact that our money can have on the environment.
Ethical investing has become good business, too. According to the website Moneyfacts.co.uk, ¨70 per cent of the ethical funds in the UK All Companies sector were in the top quarter of the performance tables in 2006¨.
So what is ethical investing? Still according to Moneyfacts:
Ethical investing is the same as any other type of investing. The only difference is that you invest your money with a company that promises not to use it to fund activities that are considered harmful to either the planet, to people or to animals; or invest in a positive way to support ethical companies and good causes. It combines your principles with your financial goals, and lets you use your money in line with your values.
More financial products are being launched all the time, the most recent being Foreign & Colonial´s Global Climate Opportunities fund that ¨will seek to identify the companies best positioned to develop leading technologies, products and services aimed at mitigating or adapting to the effects of climate change, without any negative screening or regional benchmark restrictions.¨
So that´s one for those interested in companies developing renewable, clean energy.
