Socially Responsible Investments

One of the most common components of social responsible individuals is the frustration with the lack of economic power.

First obstacle, it is the complexity and lack of media coverage for Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) venues that increases this frustration. Second is neagtive coverage of SRI investing and alternative capital creation methods except from the old classic ways from the media it supports.
Creative ways of building capital are possible and less risky than average investements.
The ease of access to the internet allows individuals to brainstorm with leading individuals in the field of social investment, actually allows individuals to make competitive profits by doing good. Socially Responsible Investing must be part of any social responsible individual.
It does not take capital, it takes will to find how capital can be helped to do better in society. As we progress in this field of SRI, proven ideas in social investing are starting to break some barriers from those in power in the financial media.

It still is common to treat social investing as some kind of out-of-way for using investment money. It is not, it is irresponsible to cap coverage and fair information on SRI.

Making money and social responsibility are not exclusive. It is the way of the future.

The performance of mutual funds specializing in socially responsible investing is advantageous and profitable. SRI mutual funds rate above 95% of all other venues to invest when explained to individual investors. Some SRI funds rank in the top 2% performance of mutual funds sectors. With general investments performing below the Socially Responsible Investing choices, it makes sense to take the next step for individuals who care about how public corporations behave. The next step is to make SRI the norm as an investment choice and work to take further steps in social responsibility.

Many detractors bring up the costs to manage SRI due to the research need it inside companies to comply with social behavior. The facts do not substatiate the negative assesment, most costs are average and competitive, with above average returns. No one complains for and extra 0.05% if you beat the return of 95% of the competition, at the same time, do good to society, versus blind investing and shoddy practices.
The more SRIs enter the market, costs will be reduced to compete for capital.
Sometimes, SRI mutual funds fall for the lies of corporations, but that is something we need to work harder to correct, and a subject to treat later, the stronger the SRI become the more difficult becomes to lie to investors.

Different SRI investments work with different focus, some work to improve woman and family rights, some do not buy shares in military or war promoting corporations, other focus more in environment degradation from pollution, choices are plenty and some of the SRI managers are becoming shareholder activists, which is the key to success and change for progress.
Many of these investments are part of large families of solid funds like Vanguard Calvert, Domini Social Equity , Pax World, there is a complete list of these investments in this link:

http://wealth.bloomberg.com/wealth/0105/feb_ft_ranking2.pdf

Wall Street is not kind with words or actions to SRI for a simple reason: Wall Street is afraid of its activism.

Activism is anathema to the clubby investment style that prevails in the pyramid scheme of Wall Street. The most important thing Wall Street fears is having to go to court to defend scandals. With the upcoming push to Mexicanize Social Security, talk about whow to settle disputes with investments is an interesting subject to treat the near future.

Today, many of the SRI mututal funds are billion dollar investments and are demanding seats in boards, clean accounts and they are demanding what politicians refuse to demand from corporations: social patriotism and responsibility to the society that provides with all tools to operate.

It is important to understand SRI in the context of power. Politicians are bought by the same groups of power does not matter which party affiliation they have. Very few elected officials walk into their office with a clean slot to work for the good of all American citizens, most work for the good of those citizens that gave them money to get elected and plan to use taxes to favor their buyers and work in the next election. That includes Wall Street.
Wall Street is pushing to get Social Security dismantled in favor if its clients.
Politicians will bent over backwards to please their masters. Wall Street is one of the few masters who can castigate any politician in seconds, sending the politician to earthy purgatory.

Here is where SRI can make a huge impact and hopefully bring good unintended consequences of dismantling retirement security and privatizing Social Security. It is necessary we consider professional advice to invest in SRI via our IRA’s and 401Ks and other retirement plans, talk to experts in SRI. Also we need to start to talk about how we can help others to expand their choice of investment into SRI.

All SRI mutual funds have IRA investment options. This should be an easy choice. What we encounter in most 401Ks or other retirement plans, SRI choices are non-existent.
A few private retirement plans offer SRI as a choice. TIAA CREF Social Choice is offered to teachers, and in a few other pension plans, but the amount is so small that we will need to have a decade of committed actions to bring the SRI choices forward.
The key word here is choice.
While federal elected officials are weighing when to dismantle and Mexicanize the social safety nets. We must have the choice to invest in those causes we believe. WE need to start to turn some of the tide around. By investing in SRIs is to give access to change, there is not need to have laws passed to create social change, that is the beauty of capital formation going in the right direction.
The broader the appeal to the general public of SRI the more effective investing it becomes. The more vocal SRI becomes the corporate behavior becomes more acceptable. The more targeted the investment higher is the possibility of above average returns.

How difficult is to open the doors of a 401K plan to have choices in SRI mutual funds? It is easy to have the choice included in your selection of mutual funds. It takes a simple request to the HR department asking to have one SRI choice. Talk with other like minded people in the work place to ask to have the choice added to the retirement plan. Many organizations and companies offer what they call a retirement cafeteria plan, the request is simple add the SRI as one choice. Today, many plans have open choices and wide open selections which will make easier to invest in SRI.
Those whose believe in balance budgets can start at home creating a SRI investment plan.

I do invest in SRI and proud of it.
This is not intended as financial or investment advice.
It is my personal independent opinion.