Ron
   Robins
     MBA

 Founder
& Analyst

Media Coverage of Investing for the Soul

• Report on Business Television's Business Morning

• CBS MarketWatch

• The Financial Post

• Rogers Television's Money Line

• CBC Radio One's Metro Morning

• 680 News Radio

• New Directions Magazine

• Environmental News Network Radio

• The Catholic Register
                    More...

Editorials

• Retiring the GDP (Gross Domestic Product)

• The Media & Government Statistics

• Unethical US Job Numbers?

• Unethical Statistics – the US consumer price index?

Shareholder Values

UK investors asked: "How important do you think it is for companies to take social, environmental and ethical issues seriously? Some 47% of those surveyed replied ‘very seriously’ and a further 40% ‘fairly seriously.'"
-- F&C Investments
    (UK) January 2007

84% of Canadian shareholders agreed with this statement: "[The] financial community should pay more attention to social and environmental performance when valuing companies."
-- GlobeScan
    (Canada) February 2004

New survey by F&C Investments (UK) reveals insatiable public appetite for green investing

January 11, 2007

A survey conducted for F&C Investments has
revealed strong public demand for companies
to act responsibly on social, environmental
and ethical issues. The research also found
high levels of public interest in ethical
investments despite such funds still being a
relatively small portion of the overall savings
universe. The survey of 2,193 members of the
UK public was conducted last month by 72
Point Limited.

Asked ‘how important do you think it is for
companies to take social, environmental and
ethical issues seriously?’ some 47% of those
surveyed replied ‘very seriously’ and a further
40% ‘fairly seriously’. However, the survey
also revealed some regional trends with those
living in London, the South East and the
South West registering the highest scores.
Significantly, almost half of the public – some
48% of those surveyed – expressed an
interest in investing ethically with only 17%
specifically ruling it out. Of those interested in
ethical investment, more than a third (37.5%)
stated that they would be prepared to do so
‘even if it means a slightly lower return’.
Avoiding companies operating in countries
with poor human rights topped the list of
concerns followed closely by avoiding
companies that damage the environment,
according to the research.

“The is no doubt that the public have become
more concerned about environmental and
ethical issues in terms of the goods they buy
and the food they eat. This research shows
that they are also concerned about where
their money is invested when they hand it
over to an asset manager,” said Jason
Hollands, Director, Head of Communications
at F&C. “There ethical investment sector has
been growing rapidly in recent years both in
terms of the size of assets and the number of
products,“ said Hollands, “but it still
represents a very small proportion of the
overall retail funds market in the UK.”

“The research suggests that latent demand
for such funds is considerably greater than
current business volumes. There is a big
opportunity for financial advisers who
include questions about ethical investment
on their client fact finds to tap in to a rich
seam of demand,” Hollands concluded.
For a copy of the research please email
sarah.deutscher@fandc.com