BUSINESS

Matching your money with your values

Personal Finance. By Katherine Vogt, AMNews staff. Jan. 12, 2004.

Robert Topham, MD, does what he can to help the environment. He's been a member of the Sierra Club, he recycles, and he drives a car that gets good gas mileage.

So when the Salt Lake City dermatologist heard about a way to make his investments "green," it seemed like the perfect hue for his money.

He bought shares in a socially responsible investment (SRI) fund run by the Sierra Club. The companies in the fund are screened to ensure that they are environmentally friendly. And that makes Dr. Topham feel good.

"I do whatever I can on a daily basis for environment. So I figured I should put an investment toward it."

More investors like Dr. Topham are turning to SRIs to put their money where their values are. According to the Social Investment Forum, a trade association, socially responsible investing in the United States has remained robust in the last three years even as the rest of the investment world stagnated.

Assets in socially screened portfolios climbed to $2.15 trillion in 2003, up from $2.01 trillion in 2001, according to the forum's annual trend report.

The 2003 study also found that screened portfolios grew 7% from 2001, while the broader universe of all professionally managed portfolios fell 4% during the same period.

The investments are screened to meet a variety of criteria. Some exclude investment in tobacco companies or weapons makers, while others put money into companies that have a good environmental track record, or treat their employees well. Some are designed to meet religious values, and others are secular. And some are even tailored to meet an individual's preferences.

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