Editorials
Voluntary Simplicity? An Ethical Investing Perspective
By Ron Robins A sweeping new consciousness is enveloping the developed world. Some call it ‘voluntary simplicity.′ It has enormous repercussions for whole industries, financial markets and investors. Because of their values, ethical investors are in a unique position to take advantage of this dawning new reality. The term voluntary simplicity (VS), according to the Simple…
Can SRI Ratings Predict Corporate Behaviour?
By Ron Robins So far there are only a few studies in this area and at best they point to weak linkages between an individual company′s SRI (socially responsible investing) ratings—as assigned by ratings agencies—and its subsequent corporate behaviour. The first study I will review is, Imitate or Differentiate? Evaluating the validity of corporate social responsibility…
Can SRI Ratings Predict Stock & Portfolio Performance?
By Ron Robins SRI (socially responsible investing) ratings′ firms, like everyone else, are always looking for the ‘Holy Grail′ in finding the winning ratings methodology that can predict the market performance of a stock or portfolio. At this juncture, no magic methodology has been found—at least that is public knowledge! We do know that some…
Investing Returns: Virtue vs. Sin
By Ron Robins I was recently asked to appear on a major business television programme to make the case for the virtuous, ethical investor. And an opponent was to appear to make their case for ‘sin′ investing. Unfortunately, the debate never occurred as the fellow who was to defend sin investing could not be pinned…
We Need MandatoryCorporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Reporting
By Ron Robins I favour mandatory CSR reporting. Let′s face it, companies coming clean on their environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices are now being seen important by nearly everybody. ESG issues are essential in informing us about long-term opportunities and risks for individual companies. Therefore, CSR reporting should be as mandatory as audited financial…
Top Ethical Investing Indices: A Global Overview
By Ron Robins The growth of ethical stock and bond indices around the world has been exciting and rapid in recent years. There is hardly a continent where they are not represented. Investors everywhere want to make good returns by doing good. Many mutual funds, unit trusts, and exchange traded funds (ETFs), are now based…
