Goodfunds Wealth Mgmt: Sustainable and responsible investing since 1986
Eric Smith b&w           
,

It's an exciting time for the sustainable and responsible investing (SRI) movement. The SRI industry organization, Social Investment Forum, published the bi-annual Trends Report this week which demonstrates again that the adoption of SRI strategies is growing steadily. In fact, since 2005, SRI assets have increased more than 34% while the broader universe of professionally managed assets has increased just 3%.

Here are a few excerpts for you from the full 100+ page report; we hope you find them informative and encouraging. By integrating SRI strategies in our investments, we are participating in a truly global movement that incorporates environment, social, and governance screening criteria; shareholder advocacy; and community investing. Please download the Trends Report Executive Summary for more info. And by the way, there's a handy "Forward email" link at the bottom for easily sending a copy of this to your like-minded friends or colleagues. 

Let us know what's on your mind these days. It is our pleasure to serve you and we look forward to speaking with you soon!


Best Regards,

Eric Smith, CFP®, AIF®


Excerpts From:

                                          2010_SRI_Trends


                                                      SRI_Ven_Diagram
While all three SRI strategies (ESG, Shareholder Advocacy, and Community Investing) have grown since 2007, Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) screening criteria remains the SRI strategy utilized by the largest percentage of asset managers.





Growth_of_SRI
From 2007 to 2010, total SRI assets grew from $2.7 billion to 3.07 billion. Of particular note is the increase in Overlapping Strategies (assets that are being invested using a combination of ESG criteria, Shareholder Advocacy, and Community Investing).





Leading_ESG_Criteria
Across the full spectrum of ESG investment vehicles, Sudan-related investment criteria have replaced tobacco as the most prevalently incorporated ESG factor. Managers have applied Sudan-related criteria in a variety of ways for various reasons. Some managers are registering human rights concerns about the genocide in Darfur, while others are managing the risk associated with doing business in a region marred by civil strife and authoritarianism.





Environmental_Social_Proposals
 The Supreme Court's January decision in Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission, by removing restrictions on corporate political advertising, gave resonance to proposals asking companies for procedures to govern and disclose their political spending with corporate funds. Investors also considered dozens of climate and environment risk assessment requests as they reacted to the twin disasters of the BP oil spill and the explosions at a mine owned by Massey Energy.





Community_Investing_Growth
Community Investing - the capital investors direct to communities and individuals that are underserved by traditional financial services - grew significantly (approximately 60%) from year-end 2006 to year-end 2010. While community investing is the smallest strategy (by assets) currently used by SRI investors, it is by far the fastest growing segment of SRI.
Eric Smith, CFP®, AIF®, Senior Wealth Officer
Alice Smith, CRPC®, Financial Planning Specialist
Ryan Jones-Casey, MBA, AAMS®, Financial Services Specialist

Goodfunds Wealth ManagementGreenBusinessSealofApprovalTINY
Sustainable and responsible investing services since 1986
206.782.1205 | 800.940.1747 | www.goodfunds.com | Seattle, WA
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Securities & investment advisory through KMS Financial Services, Inc.

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