Social Investing

Making Your Money Make a Difference

The idea behind socially responsible investing (SRI)—also called environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing—is to help investors pursue their financial goals while promoting societal soundness.

By choosing a socially responsible investment vehicle, you are essentially funding companies that support causes you care about and companies that don’t engage in practices that run contrary to your core values and beliefs. FSB recognizes the importance of this practice and uses several strategies to support social and environmental conservation and change.

In order to sustain our commitment to investing responsibly, we have integrated positive investment techniques that ensure that your investments will be put solely into activities and companies that promote a moral social impact. For example, you might choose to invest in companies that promote the following: 

  • Environmental protection
  • Community development
  • Workplace diversity
  • Human rights

In addition, integrating negative screenings into our investment strategy excludes undesirable sources from consideration based on social and/or environmental standards, such as the following industries:

  • Alcohol, tobacco, and gambling
  • Weapons
  • Nuclear power
  • Animal testing

Socially Responsible Investment Features

SRI’s most compelling feature is obvious: the ability to put your money to work for causes in a way that may also result in personal financial gain. SRI allows you to take a social stand through the investment vehicles you choose.

Shareholders of socially responsible companies can use their ownership rights to communicate with corporate management—through proposals, meetings, and proxy voting—in an effort to influence policies and decisions. Through this type of shareholder activism, socially responsible investments allow investors more influence to ultimately support positive change.

Is Socially Responsible Investing Right for You?

Whether or not you choose to extend your beliefs to your finances should depend on your personal situation and investment goals. As the socially responsible investment space evolves, investors will have an increasing number of options to consider.

Investing in the stock market involves gains and losses and may not be suitable for all investors. The investment’s socially responsible focus may limit the investment options available to the investment and may result in returns lower than those from investments not subject to such investment considerations.

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