Understanding demand for retail socially responsible investments: a survey of individual investors and financial consultants

Abstract

There is an intimate connection between socially responsible investment (SRI) and corporate social responsibility (CSR): faced with the demands of their investors, listed companies have started to adopt CSR strategies to comply with the demands of ethical fund managers and ethical index managers. This paper is an exploratory study of the obstacles to SRI among individual investors in Spain. Individuals and fi nancial consultants were surveyed about their current investment strategies, their preferences as regards criteria and ethical strategies, and the perceived obstacles for the development of SRI. The fi ndings unveil the factors leading to the limited development of the SRI Spanish retail market. The paper offers guidelines that can be used by Spanish fi nancial consultants and foreign fund managers when approaching the Spanish market.

Sustainable Development and the Financial System: Society's Perceptions About Socially Responsible Investing

“…Comparing our results to those of Valor et al . () who published a study entitled ‘Understanding Demand for Retail Socially Responsible Investments: a Survey of Individual Investors and Financial Consultants’ – in which they analysed the demand for SRI in Spain – we observe that SRI market will not take off in Spain. Although 54.2% of the sample recognise the term SRI (up 17.4% on the previous study) only 5.8% of the total sample has ever purchased a socially responsible financial product (up 3.04% on the previous study).…”

“…Comparing these results with those of Valor et al . (), in both studies the exclusion criterion most valued by respondents is activities that abuse human and labour rights and the most highly valued positive criterion for most respondents is related to social aspects.…”

“…(), Economistas sin Fronteras (ESF) and UNED (), or Valor et al . () – that questioned Spanish individuals and financial consultants about their investment strategies, their investment preferences and the perceived obstacles for the development of SRI.…”

Barriers to Small Business and The Possibility of Interrelationship to Business Angels

“…Tidak seperti investasi konvensional, proses "menganggap konsekuensi sosial dan lingkungan investasi, baik positif maupun negatif, dalam konteks analisis keuangan yang ketat " (SIF, 2005). Ada banyak literatur yang berkembang pada SRI, meliputi pertumbuhan dana tersebut (Emerson, 2003;Jayne dan Skerratt, 2003;Sjostrom andWelford, 2009;Solomon et al,2004;Valor et al, 2009.;Williams, 2007). Sejumlah faktor menjelaskan mengapa SRI telah berkembang di beberapa bagian dunia: keterlibatan dana pensiun, gerakan LSM, akar sejarah, agama, pelopor, hak pemegang saham minoritas, peluang untuk aktivisme pemegang saham dan CSR dan persyaratan pengungkapan (Sjostrom dan Welford, 2009;Valor et al, 2009.;Williams, 2007).…”

Information on social impact at NGOs The case of the Spanish charitable foundations

“…That's why transparency and information disclosure is so important for NGOs. [9] state that the higher the transparency level, the higher the capacity to get funds. Furthermore, [10] highlights that the reputation of an entity improves when it discloses accounting information in a transparent way.…”