When companies pollute the environment, support corrupt governments, or allow executives to make drastic decisions with little oversight, they put their business at risk. That’s why institutional investors are now employing sustainable investing strategies in more than $3.7 trillion of investments -- a 22 percent increase in two years, a study found.
Hospitals, retirees, pensions, banks and religious institutions used sustainable and responsible investing (SRI) strategies for $1 out of every $9 invested in the U.S. at the end of 2011, according to the report, released yesterday by US SIF, a Washington-based nonprofit that tracks SRI investing on behalf of member investors. Total investments guided by such strategies increased six-fold since 1995.
