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Title:The return of ethical investments
Date of publishing:September 20, 2011
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Category:Other content
Language:English
Also available in the following languages:Dutch, French

The return of ethical investments

Ethical investments do not only offer a financial but also a social return: investing in sustainable companies does not only bring a personal financial return, but also contributes to a society which pays attention to people and the environment.

This extra-financial added value does not stand in the way of an interesting financial return.  To the contrary. It has been demonstrated that ethical and sustainable investments achieve a return similar to that of traditional investments with a similar profile. That is not a surprise: if you invest in sustainable companies, you invest in predominantly stable companies which are exposed to less risks.

The Ethibel Sustainability Index (ESI) is a suitable instrument to follow the financial performance of sustainable investments.

The return obviously also depends on the composition of the portfolio. And that is the responsibility of the financial institution which offers the investment product. Some agents claim to only use the corporate social responsibility criteria which have demonstrated to usually achieve a higher financial return. This is not the case for Forum ETHIBEL. We do not want to compromise the ethical/sustainable quality and we do not want to claim that we can offer guaranteed better return.

You, the investor, also have a major responsibility. Investments are indeed never risk-free. So, what it really comes down to is to invest money which you will not be needing in the near future. We recommend that you first look into the risk class and prospectus of the fund of your choice. It is also good to be aware of your own investor profile. This can be determined during a personal interview with the investment specialist or via your bank’s or agency’s website.

 

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