Socially Responsible Investing : An Insight and Future Perspectives

This book is first of its kind in India. This book provides greater insights and future perspectives for Socially Responsible Investing or SRI . Socially responsible Investing is also popularly known as Ethical Investing, Responsible Investing, Green Investing etc. The unique feature of this book is that it also provides Indian perspective and empirical research on the performance of socially responsible stocks in India. Socially responsible investing (SRI) is an investment process that considers the social and environmental consequences of investments, both positive and negative, within the rigorous framework of classical financial analysis. It can also be defined as a process of identifying and investing in a company that meets certain standards of corporate social responsibility and is increasingly practiced internationally. The concept of SRI is not new but it has gained momentum in the last few years in the wake of growing concern for corporate social responsibility. In the year 2006, SRI moved to centre stage with the advent of United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UNPRI) i.e. a set of six principles on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) for investment domain. UNPRI believes that signing of these principles by any organization/institutional investor is a demonstration of its commitment to these issues in general by the management and assists investors in considering SRI related issues while making financial decisions. 

Developed in western economies since 1980s, socially responsible investing is still in the nascent stages of development in India, one of the advanced emerging markets. However the new CSR Law as envisaged by the Companies Act 2013 paves the way for socially responsible investing in India. Hence this book fills up an important gap in literature and makes a strong case for the development of socially responsible funds, ethical funds and green (or environmental) funds in India.