Do socially responsible fund managers really invest differently?

Karen L. Benson*, Timothy J. Brailsford, Jacquelyn E. Humphrey

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articleResearchpeer-review

130 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

To date, research into socially responsible investment (SRI), and in particular the socially responsible investment funds industry, has focused on whether investing in SRI assets has any differential impact on investor returns. Prior findings generally suggest that, on a risk-adjusted basis, there is no difference in performance between SRI and conventional funds. This result has led to questions about whether SRI funds are really any different from conventional funds. This paper examines whether the portfolio allocation across industry sectors and the stock-picking ability of SRI managers are different when compared to conventional fund managers. The study finds that SRI funds exhibit different industry betas consistent with different portfolio positions, but that these differences vary from year to year. It is also found that there is little difference in stock-picking ability between the two groups of fund managers.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)337-357
Number of pages21
JournalJournal of Business Ethics
Volume65
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jun 2006
Externally publishedYes

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