09/08/2025
𝐀𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮? 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭, 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟.
(𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠)
Very often, a would-be conscientious investor cannot describe what exactly he or she does and does not regard as responsible investing. That’s a little problematic, as it leaves one essentially without a solid foundation upon which to begin building an investment portfolio. That this personal ambiguity so often exists should not be too surprising. After all, responsible investing comes in many flavors and even goes by various names. Moreover, every ethically thinking person can – and arguably should – have one’s own views in this area. Particularly if an investor is consulting with an expert financial adviser, however, it is crucial to provide a clear, logical, and complete summary of one’s ethical requirements.
In this third in a series of essays on responsible investing, Gale A. Kirking, who is a Chartered Financial Analyst and has earned the CFA Institute’s Certificate in ESG Investing, suggests a framework to help an investor know oneself. Click on a link below to read this and Kirking’s first and second essays on 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗹 𝗕𝗹𝘂𝗲𝗚𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗻 (https://lnkd.in/dxm9MhDA) or at 𝗦𝘂𝗯𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗰𝗸 (https://lnkd.in/eHkwQbJN).
“Because the range of views on corporate responsibility is so broad,” Kirking writes, “I think the best starting point for an individual is to spell out for yourself what issues are most important to you. In addition to a prohibited or disfavored products and services list, I suggest taking what can be called a ‘stakeholders’ approach. Stakeholders are groups or entities potentially influenced by a company and its activities or that are able to affect such organization.”
Besides suggesting how to define one’s responsible investing preferences, Kirking introduces in this essay how he uses that information in evaluating companies. He describes real examples involving two very different companies: United Natural Foods and Utah Medical Products. Kirking recommends, too, that ethically conscious investors think through and define what are their investment return expectations, their risk preferences, and the flexibility of their ethical demands.
“If some sector or group of stocks has been really hot recently and you’re not invested in it, your investment returns are likely to underperform,” Kirking notes. “Lately, the market’s hot spot has been artificial intelligence, but in future it might be nuclear power, weapons systems, human cloning, surveillance systems, or something else. Ask yourself, will you be willing to sit out those loftier returns? If not, well, that’s up to you to decide, but you might want to think about it ahead of time.”
https://bluergreener.world/what-does-responsible-mean-to-you-first-know-yourself/
Very often, ethically conscientious investors cannot themselves describe unambiguously what they do and do not regard as responsible investments. That, as I wrote in my introduction to this series…
