Institutional investors jump on social responsibility bandwagon

In the past, I've had a certain ambivalence about socially responsible investing. If it caught on, it could have the power to change the way that companies are run. But in its current manifestation, or so I thought, investors could very well sacrifice returns at the altar of the conscience. But I was mistaken and, after reading The SRI Advantage, I've jumped on the SRI bandwagon -- and now institutional investors are too.

According to Thomas Kostigen at Marketwatch, "Nearly 200 institutional investors representing some $9 trillion in assets say they are conducting at least some type of social shareholder engagement in their investment policies. This group of investors belongs to the Principles for Responsible Investment, part of a United Nations' program to institute ethical conduct among global corporations, and the findings of how they invest are being released for the first time in a new study."

It gets better: "For example, just over half of these institutional investors are using their significant clout to require the companies in their portfolio to use standardized environmental, social and governance reporting."

Some firms are pressuring companies to make more full disclosures about their environmental and social impact in their SEC filings. It seems that Wall Street may be getting ready to exercise its enormous power to push for corporations to be better citizens.

If you're interested in shifting a portion of your portfolio toward SRI principles, check out SocialFunds.com.