Norway’s national pension fund has sold off Euro 1.8 bn in tobacco shares, claiming its action reflects the “commonly held values of the owners of the fund.” The fund’s increasing focus on ethical investments follows a review of the Norwegian Tobacco Act and a drive to stop smoking in the country which was one of the first to ban smoking in public places.
Ethical funds now make it possible for the individual investor to opt for an ethical investment, in the same way as the Norway fund.
Having worked with a financial adviser to define your personal risk profile, you can then choose from over 100 ethical investment funds currently available on the UK market.
These are broadly divided into ethical funds based on negative screening, and ethical funds based on positive screening.
Funds investments using negative screening ‘block out’ certain industries which the investor defines as unethical, based on their activities or products.
In addition to tobacco these may avoid companies associated with animal testing, deforestation, meat production, nuclear power, pollution, military and weapons, worker exploitation, and oppressive government regimes.
Positive ethical investments go one step further and attempt to locate companies associated with a range of activities supported by ethical investors, such as biodiversity, environmental products, renewable energies, sustainable forestry, and water management.
The Principle First Ethical Investment Portfolio V1 is a an investment portfolio which takes the ‘legwork’ out of ethical investing by providing a group of investments which meet our requirements regarding low risk and high performance.
