Hi Ryan, go to this link of Professors Kenneth French's Eugene Fama's response to a similar question.http://www.dimensional.com/famafrench/2011/06/qa-expected-returns-and-socially-responsible-investing.html#more
All that being said the key having a competitive SRI or sustainable funds is to index and keep the fees low, diversify across the globe and include small companies in the portfolio. Otherwise known in academic circles as the French/Fama three factor model. Dimensional funds dfaus.com has SRI and sustainable funds that adhere to these strategies.
Hi Ryan,
Although it may seem counter-intuitive, SRI funds seek to balance monetary returns with increasing the longevity of the environment and improving working conditions around the world. Accordingly, high returns may not be the most significant selling point. The truth is that a continuation in the trend of non-SRI investing may not leave much of a future for our children and grandchildren. As a result, SRI may soon become necessary because it helps all of us in the long-term even though returns may not outperform in the near-term. Effectively, these factors serve to make the comparison of SRI to non-SRI returns more of an apples to oranges relationship because they differ in their intent and substance. I hope you find this helpful.
Best, Alex
That is very helpful. I definitely understand the value of having a social impact with every action you make. I know that buying a certain type of food basically serves as a vote for that food and encourages its manufacturer to continue production. Investing in sustainable businesses basically does the same thing. Ideally though it would be nice if you could invest in SRI funds and achieve similar returns to non-SRI funds so that you could invest responsibly and still achieve a reasonable rate of return.
Gottcha Ryan. I'm sure Morningstar or the fund companies websites would have such data.
Jeff - the link in your response is a good one. I agree with Fama and French on the point that if the volume of SRI investing is significant, SRI funds serve to lower the expected return of the stocks they purchase. That is intuitive to me. My question though is more about actual returns experienced by SRI funds over the past 5-10 years. I know that many SRI funds don't have track records that long, but for those that do, it would be interesting to compare their performance to general non-SRI funds.