UKSIF: People want different things from ethical investments
May 14, 2008 by admin
Filed under News, News-Banking
People are seeking ethical investments so they can influence business practices, the UK Social Investment Forum has said.
Chief executive Penny Shepherd said that consumers are choosing ethical investments not only to make good financial returns, but also to encourage businesses to act more responsibly or because they want to support the development of new solutions for a sustainable lifestyle.
“We are keen that funds are clear about what they do – we support the European transparency guidelines, which a number of the funds have signed up to,” commented Ms Shepherd.
She also advised consumers to approach a financial advisor if they are considering an ethical investment.
This comes just before the launch of the first National Ethical Investment Week (May 18th – 24th), aimed at encouraging people to consider green and ethical investment options.
Google faced questions over how ethical its business operations are at its annual general meeting last week.
Shareholders are concerned over the services the company offers in China, which comply with the Chinese government’s censorship laws, BBC News reported.
HSBC tops ethical bank poll
January 16, 2007 by admin
Filed under News, News-Banking
HSBC has been named as the bank with the best ethical reputation, according to a report published by Covalence.
It is the second annual report of its kind compiled by the Geneva-based consultancy and ranked hundreds of firms on a number of key issues.
Companies from ten sectors were included in the study which was put together by studying positive and negative news-flow surrounding a firm over five years.
HSBC was a clear winner in the banks sector, with highlights such as choosing to go carbon neutral in January 2006 and being named overall winner in the 2006 FT Sustainable Banking Awards helping its case.
The award tops a fantastic year for the organisation and has been well received by company insiders.
“The Covalence report is an important barometer of how multinationals are perceived in the ethical field and HSBC is delighted to have been recognised in this way,” said Francis Sullivan, HSBC’s advisor on the environment.
Other winners include Toyota, which topped the automobile sector, and BP, which was awarded in the oil and gas division.
Alcoa also scored highly ahead of Starbucks, which ranked third overall, with the most ethical company across all sectors being named as Unilever.
