Why Do Investors Hold Socially Responsible Mutual Funds?

To understand why investors hold socially responsible mutual funds, we link administrative data to survey responses and behavior in incentivized experiments. We find that both social preferences and social signaling explain socially responsible investment (SRI) decisions. Financial motives play less of a role. Socially responsible investors in our sample expect to earn lower returns on SRI funds than on conventional funds and pay higher management fees. This suggests that investors are willing to forgo financial performance in order to invest in accordance with their social preferences.     

Is corporate social responsibility sufficient enough to explain the investment by socially responsible funds?

I propose an explanation for investment decisions by socially responsible investment funds (SRI) on the firms with higher corporate social responsibility (CSR). Different from the previous literature, I use a unique and comprehensive measure that considers both firm CSR ratings and fund CSR perception. I show SRI mutual funds increase their ownership about 15 % for one unit increase in the firm CSR score when those funds are highly sensitive to CSR. This finding is more pronounced for employee relations and society areas of CSR. The results also hold for a broader range of mutual funds. While industry concentration does not have influence on the fund investment, SRI funds particularly choose socially responsible firms operating in construction, transportation, personal services, and financial sector. I show the funds with CSR sensitivity underperform the market in general and fail to improve their portfolio performance after they invest in the firms with high CSR.     

SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE INVESTING AND PORTFOLIO DIVERSIFICATION

I use a sample of socially responsible stock mutual funds matched to randomly selected conventional funds of similar net assets to investigate differences in characteristics of assets held, portfolio diversification, and variable effects of diversification on investment performance. I find that socially responsible funds do not differ significantly from conventional funds in terms of any of these attributes. Moreover, the effect of diversification on investment performance is not different between the two groups. Both groups underperform the Domini 400 Social Index and S&P 500 during the study period.     

The Behaviour of Socially Responsible Investments as Financial Assets

This paper examines the behaviour of socially responsible investments (SRIs) as financial assets using a returns-based style analysis methodology. Conflicting views exist on the risks of SRIs in terms of their exposure to asset classes and industry sectors. This paper provides empirical evidence from a sample of Australian SRI managed funds. The sample SRI funds do not have strong consistent patterns in terms of style. They do not appear to represent a homogenous category of investments, and do not belong in an investment class of their own.     

Socially Responsible Fixed-Income Funds

Abstract:  The growing importance of SRI in the investment arena has resulted in considerable academic interest in the performance of socially responsible equity mutual funds. Remarkably, no attempts have been made to evaluate the performance of mutual funds that invest in socially responsible fixed-income securities. This study fills that gap by measuring the performance of socially responsible bond and balanced funds relative to matched samples of conventional funds, over the period 1987–2003. Using multi-index performance evaluation models, we show that the average SRI bond fund performed similar to conventional funds, while the average SRI balanced fund outperformed its conventional peers by more than 1.3% per year. The expenses charged by SRI funds, match those charged by conventional funds and, evidently, do not cause SRI funds to underperform.     

Red and blue investing: Values and finance

Using data on the political contributions and stock holdings of U.S. investment managers, we find that mutual fund managers who make campaign donations to Democrats hold less of their portfolios (relative to non-donors or Republican donors) in companies that are deemed socially irresponsible (e.g., tobacco, guns, or defense firms or companies with bad employee relations or diversity records). Although explicit socially responsible investing (SRI) funds are more likely to be managed by Democratic managers, this result holds for non-SRI funds and after controlling for other fund and manager characteristics. The effect is more than one-half of the underweighting observed for SRI funds.     

Socially responsible investment funds: Investor reaction to current and past returns

This paper investigates and compares the determinants of fund flows for socially responsible investment (SRI) funds and conventional funds. We consider the impact of current and past measures of monthly and annual return on fund flow. The results suggest SRI fund flows are less sensitive to returns than conventional funds. Our model also shows that flow is persistent and SRI investors are more likely to invest in a fund they already own relative to conventional investors. These results reflect the difficulty SRI investors face in finding alternative investments that meet their non-financial goals.     

Socially responsible investing: Is it for real or just for show?

Many mutual funds declare themselves as socially responsible investment (SRI) funds. However, it is unclear whether this rhetoric is simply window-dressing to attract capital inflows or reflects genuine concern. We show that companies with better environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance are more attractive to SRI mutual funds. More importantly, SRI mutual funds positively affect their investee firms' ESG performance after controlling for firm characteristics, possible endogeneity issues, and omitted variables. Furthermore, ownership structure, board members' international experience, and social media attention are important channels through which SRI mutual funds influence their investee firms' ESG performance.     

Is ethical money financially smart? Nonfinancial attributes and money flows of socially responsible investment funds

We study the money flows into and out of socially responsible investment (SRI) funds around the world. In their investment decisions, investors in SRI funds may be more concerned with ethical or social issues than with fund performance. Therefore, SRI money flows are less related to past fund returns. Ethical money is less sensitive to past negative returns than are conventional fund flows, especially when SRI funds primarily use negative or Sin/Ethical screens. Social attributes of SRI funds weaken the relation between money inflows and past positive returns. However, money flows into funds with environmental screens are more sensitive to past positive returns than are conventional fund flows. Stock picking based on in-house SRI research increases the money flows. These results give evidence on the role of nonfinancial attributes, which induce heterogeneity of investor clienteles within SRI funds. We find no evidence of a smart money effect, as the funds that receive more inflows neither outperform nor underperform their benchmarks or conventional funds.     

IMPORTANCE OF THE FUND MANAGEMENT COMPANY IN THE PERFORMANCE OF SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE MUTUAL FUNDS

We compare the performance of a sample of U.K.‐based socially responsible investment (SRI) funds with similar conventional funds using a matched‐pair analysis based on size, age, investment universe, and fund management company (FMC). We find that both the SRI and conventional funds outperform the market index about 50% of the time, even after fees. Subsample tests show that the SRI funds in our sample perform better in the pre‐ and postfinancial crisis periods but underperform during the financial crisis period. Importantly, we find that the FMC plays a major role in the outperformance of both SRI and conventional funds.     

The conditional performance of US mutual funds over different market regimes: do different types of ethical screens matter?

We investigate the performance of US mutual funds that employ different ethical criteria: religious, socially responsible, and irresponsible. Performance is evaluated over different market regimes using a Markov-switching conditional CAPM approach that endogenously defines different states of the market. This model is also extended to a multifactor context. The results show that estimates of performance vary across different market regimes. The Vice Fund, which invests in unethical firms, outperforms in low-volatility regimes, but underperforms in high-volatility regimes. These results contradict the Vice Fund’s claim that it constitutes a “solid investment during recessionary periods”. Our results show that socially responsible and morally responsible funds exhibit different performance across different market conditions, thereby supporting the use of performance evaluation models that take into account different market regimes. Overall, different types of ethical screens seem to lead to different performance patterns across different market regimes.     

证券投资基金风格、投资行为与股票市场波动

本文研究了我国不同投资风格的证券投资基金投资行为和股票市场波动之间的相互关系，对于正确认识投资基金的作用以及发展机构投资者的政策取向具有重要意义。实证结果显示，证券投资基金股票投资行为在一定程度上引起了股票市场的波动，可以部分平抑市场下跌时的波动风险，同时加剧了市场上涨时的市场波动。成长型基金对股市波动的影响较大，而平衡型基金具有降低股市波动的作用。     

Behavioural analysis of socially responsible investment managers: specialists versus non-specialists

We analyse the performance and performance persistence of US socially responsible investment (SRI) managers from a managers’ perspective, differentiating between specialist managers (only running SRI mutual funds) and non-specialists (running SRI and conventional mutual funds). We find that the SRI fund nature has a significantly negative influence on the non-specialist performance. Furthermore, top managers of both groups persistently outperform SRI funds. However, non-specialist managers obtain superior performance to specialist managers, perhaps because of learning synergies in both fund niches. Results also show more persistence with non-specialists, especially with regard to conventional mutual funds.     

Do ethical investors want purity or effectiveness? An exploratory study on the ethical preferences of mutual fund investors

This article relates the result of an exploratory survey aimed at better understanding the ethical preferences of individuals invested in so-called ethical or socially responsible investment (SRI) profiled mutual funds. In order to get an insight into the moral preferences of investors, a range of questions and dilemmas were formulated to determine respondents’ agreement with one of two more stringent philosophical perspectives: the moral purity and moral effectiveness perspectives. Our results indicate that investors support both perspectives but have difficulties in choosing between them in ethical dilemmas. For financial services providers, this confusion among investors represents a major challenge in setting up and managing an ethical or socially responsible investment service. In essence, providers are faced with the task of deciding which strategies and methods that should be used in the ethical investment service, even though many customers may not know which ones they prefer.     

养老基金个人投资选择权的理论阐释与实践发展

国外养老基金个人投资选择权的理论阐释与实践发展表明,职工并不能作为"理性人"在养老基金投资运营中实现收益最大化,并进而揭示出养老基金个人投资选择权的两个主要发展趋势,即"管理机构选择权"模式中个人在投资机构问的转移率与该国人均收入水平负相关,以及"投资基金选择权"模式中个人参与率下降趋势明显.因此,如果我国企业年金设置...     

Socially responsible funds and market crises

Compared to matched conventional mutual funds, socially responsible mutual funds outperform during periods of market crises. This dampening of downside risk comes at the cost of underperforming during non-crisis periods. Investors seeking downside protection would value the asymmetry of these returns. This asymmetric return pattern is driven by the mutual funds that focus on environmental, social, or governance (ESG) attributes and is especially pronounced in ESG funds that use positive screening techniques. Furthermore, the observed patterns are attributed to the funds’ socially responsible attributes and not the differences in fund portfolio management or the characteristics of the companies in fund portfolios.     

社会责任投资基金的实施契约与代理成本的关系研究

通过对社会责任投资基金契约条款适应社会责任目标而进行的规范和调整进行评估,并采用异质性随机前沿分析和LSDV法阐释基于契约的社会责任约束程度与基金代理成本之间的关系,研究发现,非市场利率追逐型社会责任投资基金的契约对社会责任主题的约束程度普遍高于市场利率追逐型社会责任投资基金,这种差异主要体现在投资目标和投资范围的契约条款设计方面。社会责任投资基金的契约得分与基金的代理成本呈正相关关系,尤其是非市场利率追逐型社会责任投资基金表现得更加明显。因此,“规则前置”的契约条款对社会责任主题的限制和约束增加了代理成本,契约作为一种硬约束手段在解决委托代理问题上作用有限。     

Defined Contribution Pension Plans: Sticky or Discerning Money?

Participants in defined contribution (DC) retirement plans rarely adjust their portfolio allocations, suggesting that their investment choices and consequent money flows are sticky and not discerning. However, participants’ inertia could be offset by DC plan sponsors, who adjust the plan's investment options. We examine these countervailing influences on flows into U.S. mutual funds. We find that flows into funds from DC assets are more volatile and exhibit more performance sensitivity than non‐DC flows, primarily due to adjustments to the investment options by the plan sponsors. Thus, DC retirement money is less sticky and more discerning than non‐DC money.     

Hidden Gem or Fool’s Gold: Can passive ESG ETFs outperform the benchmarks?

Using a unique and extensive dataset of 121 socially responsible investing (SRI) equity exchange-traded funds (ETFs) from January 2010 to December 2020, this study examines how passive SRI ETFs perform compared with their non-SRI benchmarks composed of S&P500 ETFs. Over the full sample period, our results show that an equally weighted SRI ETF portfolio underperforms its benchmark portfolio. Notably, we do not find significant differences in the two portfolios’ performance in the second half of our sample period. However, in the last two years, the SRI ETF portfolio significantly outperforms the benchmark. For the SRI investment strategies, we show that positive screening (or inclusion) rather than negative screening (or exclusion) can beat the benchmark portfolio. In particular, environmental inclusion screen provides significantly higher abnormal returns. Finally, we find that SRI ETFs’ performance can be explained by increasing industry competition and declining market concentration.     

Corporate social responsibility and stock split

This study examines whether socially responsible companies are likely to conduct a stock split. We argue that these companies, compared to their counterparts, could use their strong corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance to reduce information asymmetry with shareholders, and therefore, are less likely to rely on stock splits to signal their future growth potentials. We find empirical evidence to support our hypothesis and investigate the reasons for the lower frequency of stock splits among CSR oriented firms. We find that more socially responsible firms experience a smaller increase in trading volume and a greater increase in bid-ask spread following a stock split than less socially responsible firms. Furthermore, our study finds that, when more socially responsible firms decide to conduct a stock split, they attract a greater proportion of institutional investors with long-term investment horizons.