What Is Ethical Investing?

Ethical investing is gaining traction, with more and more investors selecting where their money will go based on their personal principles. This style of socially conscious investment holds companies accountable for their negative impacts and is driving many investors to select their investments dependent on their mutual shared values.

Ethical investing can align with moral, social, political, religious and environmental values, and takes them into account prior to making investment decisions. The primary objective of ethical investments is to create a positive impact by investing in companies that take environmental, social governance (ESG) and ethical issues into consideration and make an effort to address or prevent the business from contributing to the issues.

Rather than only receive a financial return on their investment, investors also receive a social conscious return that has an overall impact on them and the planet. 

There are two ways that ethical investing can be done. 

Personal Screening

An investor chooses to invest in industries/sectors/companies whose values align with their own values. As an example, they may look towards companies who are environmentally and socially conscious, who treat their workers fairly, have high governance standards and carry out environmentally sustainable practices.

Negative Screening

This is when an investor avoids industries whose values directly differ from their value – those involved in fossil fuels, gambling, military ammunition and tobacco are automatically crossed out from ethical investors’ choices. Treatment of workers can also determine to an ethical investor whether or not a company is worth investing in.

Ethical investing, while praiseworthy, needs to consider the soundness of their investments as well as their values. To examine whether the investment is sound and has the potential to reap significant returns, a review of a company’s history and finances is necessary. It is also important to confirm the firm’s commitment to its declared ethical practices and measures.