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KLD Releases New Research Paper
"SRI: An Evolving Concept in a Changing World"
BOSTON,
MA - September 14, 2005 - KLD Research & Analytics, Inc.
has released an important new paper analyzing the impact
of the growing acceptance by institutional investors of
environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors as
investment criteria.
"Socially
Responsible Investing": An Evolving Concept in a
Changing World is written by Peter D. Kinder,
co-founder and President of KLD Research & Analytics,
Inc. and author of many articles and books about SRI and
fiduciary responsibility.
"The
emerging influence of institutions," Kinder argues,
"has forced a re-think of a field known as socially
responsible investing. This change will have a lasting
effect on the role of institutions as investors and on
the importance of SRI."
Prompted by international
debate that has included, among many, the World Economic
Forum ("Davos") and the United Nations Environmental
Program Finance Initiative, Kinder answers these pressing
questions:
- What does "Socially
Responsible Investing" (SRI) mean?
- Who invests this way
and why do they do it?
- How is the field changing
as institutional investors discover the importance of
global warming, corporate governance and other (ESG)
issues?
- With SRI on the rise
among institutions, how will fundamental investment
concepts, such as "performance" change?
Kinder suggests that the field has already changed significantly.
There now appear to be three distinct approaches to SRI:
value-based, value-seeking, and value-enhanced strategies.
In the latter two, the recent entrants avoid the label
of "SRI".
This
extensively sourced paper describes the three approaches
to incorporating ESG criteria into investment management
and identifies the investors applying them. It also lays
out their effects on such crucial societal issues as the
nature of investment performance and the role of the institutional
shareholder in corporate governance.
Kinder
asserts, "The approaches reflect real differences,
but there is much more to gain from working together on
issues of common interest than in struggling over turf
and terms."
About Peter D. Kinder
Peter
Kinder has written extensively on the issues of socially
responsible investing and fiduciary duties. Among his
most recent publications are: "Mission-Based Investing:
Extending the Reach of Foundations, Endowments and NGOs",
"Pensions
and the Companies they Own: New Fiduciary Duties in a
Changing Social Environment", and "Values
and Money: A Research Practitioner's Perspective on Values
for Money".
Mr. Kinder also collaborated
on: The Social Investment Almanac (Henry Holt, 1992),
Investing for Good (Harper Business, 1993), Ethical
Investing (Addison-Wesley, 1984), and Business and
Law (McGraw-Hill, 1982/94).
About KLD Research & Analytics,
Inc.
KLD Research & Analytics,
Inc. is an independent investment research firm providing
investment management tools used by professionals to serve
clients requiring investment strategies based on social
and environmental responsibility. KLD products and services,
including Socrates (a web-based, company research tool)
are used for screening, compliance and asset gathering.
For more information about KLD or its family of Indexes,
please see our website (www.kld.com)
or contact Karen Agredo by phone (617.426.5270) or e-mail
(kagredo@kld.com).
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