Ethical investment generally refers to measures taken during the investment process to avoid investments that directly or indirectly promote what are seen as negative outcomes such as arms proliferation or environmentally damaging enterprises. This negative screening is what is mostly commonly thought of as ethical investing, but it also increasingly includes shareholder activism whereby shares are taken, or retained, in a company in an attempt to influence company strategy and effect a positive change in corporate behaviour.
Where ethical investment tends to be used in the screening out of ethically questionable investments socially responsible investment is used to denote the more positive inclusion of investments that support social and environmental good.
A coalition of Christians is planning a protest to urge the Church Commissioners to disinvest from BP, Shell and Exxon Mobil, in which it has a combined investment of £170.8m.
The Church Commissioners has revised its investment policy to exclude payday lenders and pawnbrokers, and also plans to challenge its internet-provider investments which promote pornography.
As head of finance at a large grantmaker, Jackie Turpin congratulates the Charity Commission on powerful new investment guidance that should encourage trustees to think outside the box.
Social Enterprise UK has called on the Church of England to lead the way in investment in ethical and social causes.
Restructuring an investment portfolio
After suffering badly in the 2008 crash, the Asthma UK investment portfolio has been restructured, explains Ian Bucknell.
Responsible investing
Charities should be taking on the role of 'activist shareholders' and investing responsibly to further the objectives of their organisation, says Andrew Hind.
The Charity Commission has finally published its new investment guidance, CC14, and it makes clear that programme-related investment and ‘mixed-motive investment’ are both perfectly legitimate models for charities to consider.
New CC14 will open the door to social investment
The new guidance will provide a stimulus to social investment, believes Stephen Hammersley.
New Commission guidance on investing: Flexibility, not prescription
Kate Rogers considers what impact the new CC14 will have on both investing charities and fund managers.
CC14 - guiding principles for trustees on investment matters
The Charity Commission has just published its new guidance on investment (CC14). Jane Hobson explains what it reveals about the regulator’s new approach.
UK Sustainable Investment and the Charity Finance Directors’ Group have produced an ethical investment guide as part of National Ethical Investment Week.
Money invested in Britain’s green and ethical retails funds has reached a record high of £11.3bn, according to figures released by EIRIS, a sustainable investment research firm.
Active investing
Shareholder resolutions are becoming more common. Neville White advises charities to take a close interest.
The Church Investors Group is to use its financial muscle to press UK hotel groups to take action to ensure they don’t become complicit in human trafficking and exploitation during next year’s London Olympics.
The Pensions Trust has launched an ethical investment option as part of its Flexible Retirement Plan, as a result of demand from its members.
In Parliament tomorrow, UKSIF, the sustainable investment and finance association will call on government, pension funds and the wider financial industry to make finance sector expertise in sustainability a strategic asset for the UK.
The Church Commissioners for England will withdraw its £3.8m investment in News Corporation unless its chairman Rupert Murdoch ensures he will hold senior executives to account for the phone hacking scandal which led to the closure of the News of the World newspaper this past Sunday.
Sir Mark Walport, director of the Wellcome Trust, has been moved to defend the charity’s recent investment in the online lender Wonga after being tackled about it by Labour MP Stella Creasy.
Ethical investment by some of the top charities has significantly decreased. Niki May Young deplores the drop and calls for the sector to stand as a moral leader.
A survey into the financial management of 64 charities with an annual income over £1m has found that those charities have reduced their ethical and socially responsible investments from one-third to one-fifth.
The Church Commissioners will stop investing in UK government bonds, cut back its holdings in global equities, and invest in US timber as part of a radical new restructuring of its investment strategy.
A coalition of investors including charities and churches is set to use its influence as shareholders and challenge the UK’s largest companies to pay a living wage to all their staff.
Members of the Church Investors Group will attend BP’s annual general meeting this week to express their ongoing concerns about the oil giant’s safety and risk management procedures.
The Charity Commission’s revised CC14 guidance places too much responsibility on trustees, CFDG has argued.
Are pooled funds meeting the needs of charities?
It’s up to charities to encourage fund managers to provide funds that meet responsible investment objectives, says Mark Robertson.
Charity Bank has opened a new cash ISA where savers' funds will only be invested in charities, social enterprises and community organisations.
Social investment – clever finance
Vibeka Mair examines the latest crop of alternative forms of finance for charities.
The Church Investors Group will use its shareholder power to demand BP reviews its risk assessment and emergency response plans at the firm's AGM in April.
Some aspects of the Charity’s Commission’s new CC14 investment guidance represent “a backward step from the previous guidance on social investment”, according to the investment director at Rathbone Greenbank Investments.
The majority of the public believe a charity should invest ethically, even if this produces lower returns, according to a new report from the EIRIS Foundation and the Holly Hill Charitable Trust.
