Ethical stocks outperform European blue chips
An index of ethical stocks has beaten the FTSE’s benchmark for Europe’s largest 100 companies over the past three months. The FTSE4Good Europe Benchmark index returned a negative 13.4% over the quarter to September 19, while its Euro 100 index returned a negative 15.54% in the same period.
The FTSE4Good range was created to track the performance of companies that meet globally recognised corporate responsibility standards. They are reassessed on a half-yearly basis.
Mark Robertson, communications and development manager at Eiris, the organisation that works with FTSE on the index range, said: “Investors have realised ethical investing is not just about climate change, but there are other governance factors which affect the bottom-line performance of a company.
Since the start of 2000, the amount invested in retail ethical or socially responsible funds has risen to from £3.2bn to £8.9bn, according to Eiris data.
Robertson said although it was not a hard-and-fast rule, companies that met these standards would normally have a superior governance structure and be run in a sustainable way, which was important to long-term investors.
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