The Performance of Socially Responsible Investment Funds in Europe. An Empirical Analysis

Socially responsible investing (SRI) is an investment approach that combines investors’ financial as well as nonfinancial goals in the security selection process. Technically, investors can engage in SRI either by directly investing in companies that implement corporate social activities or by investing their money in SRI funds, which apply screening criteria to select securities. The screening process applied by the SRI funds has led to controversy among academics regarding whether the use of SRI screens in the security selection process influences the financial performance of the funds. The empirical study analyzes whether or not the screening process applied by such funds influences their financial performance. Previous research mostly has focused on analyzing the performance of SRI equity funds established in the United States. The study at hand not only includes SRI equity funds, but also SRI balanced and fixed income funds established in Europe, the biggest market for SRI globally. The study provides unexpected results that are not only of interest for investors, who want to get a better understanding of the effect on the financial performance of their portfolios in case SRI…

Издательство

BoD – Books on Demand

Год

2016

Страниц

318

Язык

английский

ISBN

9783844104820