Socially Responsible Investing
Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) is a broad term for investing that either has a positive social purpose and/or avoids a negative impact on society. It includes investing through private and public vehicles with companies, real estate, and financial products. The strategy and mechanics of social investing evolved out of faith-based standards for investments, moved through the early environmental movement, the influence of the war in Vietnam, and the civil rights struggle in the United States, and came of age during the synthesis of international efforts geared toward alleviating suffering in South Africa. SRI is a term that encompasses many specific trends in impact-based investments. SRI as an overarching category does not necessarily involve positive financial returns, nor is it necessarily ESG-related.