10 June 2010
Ten so-called 'ethical' funds hold BP
By Alan O'SULLIVAN:
"Ten so-called 'ethical' funds hold BP stock even though the oil producer is behind the worst oil spillage in history.
Many fund managers within the ethical sphere class themselves as 'light green', which means they invest in companies traditionally seen as 'unethical' if they feel they are more ethically conscious than their peers.
This is why nine investment funds hold the oil stock in their portfolio, according to Thomson Reuters: the SWIP Pan-European SRI Equity, SWIP Global SRI, Real Life A, CBF Church of England Investment, CBF Church of England UK Equity, COIF Charities Investment, Drygate, Aberdeen Responsible UK Equity and Marlborough Ethical funds.
The Ethical fund run by Marks & Spencer also admitted to holding BP stock after being contacted by This is Money.
Their investment remit is in stark contrast to funds referred to as 'dark green', which screen out any investments believed to be unethical - such as tobacco, arms and oil companies. The Aegon Ethical Equity and the F&C Stewardship funds are good examples of these.
But should funds still be holding BP after it was removed from the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices last week as the true impact of the Gulf spill became apparent?
We ask this as more and more people are investing ethically: over 750,000 investors have £9.5bn in approximately 100 ethical funds, almost four times the amount invested 10 years ago, according to research firm Experts in Responsible Investment Solutions (Eiris).
And they are right to, even if only on performance grounds: the performance of ethical funds has outstripped that of non-ethical funds for the first time over the past year, according to price comparison website Moneyfacts.co.uk. Ethical funds have returned 29.95% over the past 12 months, marginally ahead of the 29.85% earned by non-ethical funds"...
SOURCE / QUELLE dieses Ausschnitts:
http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/investing/...d=505951&in_page_id=166