What Is Social Responsible Investing

Financial investments are primarily done with the expectation of achieving a profit. Yes, money still drives the main investment portfolio decisions and yet it isn’t the sole criteria any longer. People are conscious of the changes happening all around and care enough to invest in projects and things that make a positive impact. These investors aim to contribute their little bit in plans that will lead to global, social, environmental and even governance advancements.

Social Responsible Investing – What Is It?

Social Responsible Investing or SRI is also known as Sustainable Responsible Investing. It can be described as a discipline or school of thought that firmly believes in impact investing for social good. Hence, it means not investing in companies and products that are harming the environment are socially corrupting or addictive in nature. All in all, SRI is all about socially conscious investments.

Who Are SRI Investors?

SRI investors are people like you and me. Additionally, they also include venture capitalists, religious institutions, foundations, hospitals and medical schools etc. The only thing that differentiates these people from others is their personal decision to give back some to the society.

Goals of SRI

There are two main goals of Social Responsible Investing. One is obviously financial gain and the other social impact.

• Financial Gain – this one is a no-brainer, an investor in any field wants better returns. When it comes to SRI, the return might not be high but sufficient to soothe the conscious. It is not necessary that a socially responsible investment will always give poor returns. Hence, the investor needs to assess the monetary outlook of the proposed investment.
• Social Impact – go-green projects, clean technology, community development funds etc., are some examples of SRI that have a notable social impact. The idea is to create a better social and environmental set-up which will automatically benefit all and reduce dependence on anyone and anything.

How to Accomplish Social Responsible Investing

• Invest In Companies That Have Social Values – investors need to be more aware of the fact that they invest in those companies that give importance to values. These values may be associated with the uplifting the society or environmental protection or green technology etc. Ideally, before investing it is necessary to understand what values guide the operations of the company. Once satisfied that they are indeed working in conjunction with their advertised beliefs you can study the financial side of things.
• Community Investing – this is an extremely fast-growing sector. Herein, the capital of the investors is intended for those communities which are still served by conservative financial lending institutions. Community investing allows for low-interest loans for investment capital and at the same time provides significant group benefits that incorporate housing, healthcare, education and much more.
• Shareholders Influencing Corporate Decisions – shareholders have the right and moral responsibility to positively influence corporate decisions which could otherwise have a damaging impact on, both, the environment and the society. The idea is to pressure the board into improving their policies and practices for a better and safer future. Shareholders can influence corporate decisions through voting, attracting media attention, raising awareness in the masses etc.

Performance of SRI Funds

Sustainable and socially responsible investing includes a wide and developing range of products and assets. It includes not just investment in stock or public equity but also cash and other forms of alternative investments. Just like any other investor an SRI investor also wants the highest possible return as such they look for a stock option that is going to yield the maximum profit.

Off late, the companies are also changing their policies and work environment to focus on changes that would have a lasting impact on the society. Reduce, reuse and recycle was earlier the most common way of showcasing their responsibility towards the environment. But now, “Go-Green” is the new mantra. Not only that, but they too do not advertise or associate themselves with products that are harmful to the environment.

Coming back to the question of fund performance, it has been seen through numerous research studies that those companies who shoulder their corporate and social responsibility are in fact sound investments. There exists a positive correlation between Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance or ESG and the commercial financial performance. Therefore, it can be rightly summarized that a good fund manager can indeed get you exceptionally good returns by investing in stocks, assets, and programs that satisfy the SRI criteria.

Future of SRI

Slowly and steadily, the awareness for a better future is rising amongst one and all. Mostly, people try to emulate what others are doing. Hence, when one begins it starts a ripple effect with far-reaching effects. As consciousness about SRI increases, more and more people will be driven towards it. And as more people get attracted towards it, every business, big or small, will have to make changes to make way for a new, ethical and moral way of conducting business.

After all, it is not possible to climb on others back to reach the top. Together as one if we move forward, we can improve not only the living standard of the society as a whole but also make our planet a safer place for the future generations.

Final Thoughts

SRI investing options and strategies are many and varied. But since, it is still a relatively developing concept; there are very few takers for it. Nonetheless, the rising awareness amongst the masses for investment in socially responsible options is gaining momentum. This change of mindsets is making it difficult for any company to overlook their social responsibility. Hence, business values are changing and undergoing reformation. Green global communities like Green X Prize are setting the stage for socially conscious change. They are encouraging people to share their ideas which will benefit communities and generate profits for corporate, public, and private investors. The future is bright and every person is aiming to make it even better. SRI is ensuring that money grows for all in a responsible manner without harming either the society or the environment. All in all, Changes are happening for the good of everyone. A happy society will make way for the prosperity of all.

By,
Thomas Addaquay

Source:  Social Responsible Investing

How to Start a Career in Social Entrepreneurship?

A career in social entrepreneurship is not only fulfilling but it can also be financially rewarding.
The fact of the matter is as we stand right now, development of the world and societies is growing with enormous speed and is also creating adverse effects on our nature.
we have to deal with these effects of over development on our communities.
Human-generated activities have caused adverse effects on the climate and therefore created many climate problems.  Even though it is a huge problem, it also creates opportunities.
As a social entrepreneur, you have to look for opportunities to tackle such problems.
That’s what this model stands for. Creating opportunities amidst chaos.

How to get involved as a Social Entrepreneur?

The best way to get involved in socially responsible career is what I call a change of mindset, or a change of attitude.
I think we are all collectively a part of this problem although it’s directly not our fault. We are born into this world where we have to conform to certain standards. We grow up taking these as factual and some as truth.
For example, if you are born in a Western society, you grow up with a self-interest driven business type of mentality. There isn’t anything wrong with that; however, at the core of the capitalist model is the idea to develop at all costs even if it means to cause harm to the environment. Consequently, somebody is left to pick up the tab of such environmental degradation.
The social entrepreneurship model further states that somebody can clean up that mess and turn it into a profit. That would involve tapping into the goodwill of people as well as mobilizing socially-conscious people to rally around a problem.
Somebody has to take ownership over it whether he/she just wants to help or profit from it. The question becomes, how do we get people to focus on this problem?
You can join communities like Greenxprize where you can maximize your social entrepreneurial efforts and tap into the community of like-minded social entrepreneurs and social investors.
You can submit your social enterprise idea to the community and get support and financial help from it. You can discuss sustainability issues in the today’s world and also offer solutions to fellow participants who are working on social enterprise projects.
Greenxprize also rewards with $10,000 cash prize every month to participants who submit their social idea based on voting. Although it’s not a huge amount it will encourage them and help them for what they are doing to go ahead with their project.
Think about the revolution apple inc started and how it revolutionized mobile platform across IT industry. Greenxprize is trying to have a similar effect, but our footprint is in sustainability space.
We come up with incentives to incentivize people who can think along these lines and then encourage them to make a living out of solving these problems. This step needs to happen quickly, so the best way to start is with a change of mindset. Start by looking at these problems as opportunities and making some lifestyle changes. We also need to raise a new generation of leaders who will be thinking in more responsible ways.
For now, I think people should not just look at the problem from a social point of view but find entrepreneurial opportunities in it and get financially rewarded. It’s only a matter of time until we start seeing the full adverse effects our own creation pretty much.
I do believe in the capitalist model and its potential to solve each of these problems; however, we are dealing with a situation that is a ticking bomb. All of the models that have been projected show that we do not have enough time for the capitalist model. Instead, we can apply a bit of both.
Source: https://www.greenxprize.com/think-green-article/How-to-Start-a-Career-in-Social-Entrepreneurship%3F