Bradley Pike

May 26, 2016 | The Legal Intelligencer

Socially responsible investing (SRI) has come a long way from its days when it generally meant not buying shares of companies in industries like tobacco, firearms, or gambling. Now, ­investors can consider a broad range of corporate behavior under the umbrella of so-called "ESG" factors—environmental, social and governance. The acronym ESG represents the latest stage in the evolution from merely screening out industries or companies. Most ESG portfolios not only avoid certain industries, they integrate industry-specific factors into the fundamental research process and thus favor companies that actively promote best practices on ESG issues. As a result, ESG investing is ­sometimes also referred to as "impact" investing.

By Bradley Pike

11 minute read