A question of ethics

Investors need to scrutinise SRI funds more closely than ever, writes AEGON's Ryan Smith.

It is quite difficult to get an accurate picture of the assets in ethical or socially responsible (SR) funds. In our experience, many of the surveys undertaken overstate the scale of SRI, primarily because of the varying definitions and approaches applied. From the retail UK investor perspective, the amount invested has stayed pretty constant. According to the IMA, just over 1% of total assets under management, in 2010, were invested in ethical or SRI funds. This amount has grown steadily but the number of funds has fallen a little from a peak in 2008, with a small number of well establi...