Social Impact Investing

Two good things came out this research:
1. The idea was picked up by Mike Tyrrell, who worked at Jupiter, an SRI fund
manager in London, and who developed it into something much bigger and better
at HSBC and then Citigroup.
2. ABN AMRO's operation in Brazil used this research to create the first SRI fund in
an emerging market, launched in November 2001. As of late 2008, this fund,
called Fundo Ethical, was the Brazilian operation's biggest and best performing
stock fund of any kind. (ABN AMRO's operation in Brazil was bought by
Santander in 2007.)
Drawing on the industry's experience using divestment as a tool against apartheid, the
Sudan Divestment Task Force was established in 2006 in response to the genocide
occurring in the Darfur region of the Sudan. Support from the US government followed
with the Sudan Accountability and Divestment Act of 2007.
More recently, some social investors have sought to address the rights of indigenous
peoples around the world who are affected by the business practices of various
companies. The 2007, SRI in the Rockies Conference held a special pre-conference
specifically to address the concerns of indigenous peoples. Healthy working conditions,
fair wages, product safety, and equal opportunity employment also remain headline
concerns for many social investors. In the mid-2010s, some funds developed gender
lens investing strategies to promote workplace equity and general welfare of women
and girls.
Current Strategies
Socially responsible investing is a growing market in both the US and Europe. In
particular, it has become an important principle guiding the investment strategies of
various funds and accounts.
Government-Controlled Funds
Government-controlled funds such as pension funds are often very large players in the
investment field, and are being pressured by the citizenry and by activist groups to
adopt investment policies which encourage ethical corporate behavior, respect the
rights of workers, consider environmental concerns, and avoid violations of human
rights. One outstanding endorsement of such policies is The Government Pension Fund
of Norway, which is mandated to avoid "investments which constitute an unacceptable
risk that the Fund may contribute to unethical acts or omissions, such as violations of
fundamental humanitarian principles, serious violations of human rights, gross
corruption or severe environmental damages."
Many pension funds are currently under pressure to disinvest from the arms company
BAE Systems, partially due to a campaign run by the Campaign Against Arms Trade
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