He acknowledges there have been some performance issues recently, depending on the mutual fund. The top social fund, Green Century's Balanced Fund, returned 25 percent in 1996. Investing in stocks in only one side of social investing. The other is depositing in community-oriented banks, which generally focus their loans on a specific geographic area and aim for social benefits such as affordable housing. Of 13 such banks that exist in the US, three are in the Northwest, including Albina Community Bank in Portland, the Bank of Newport and Shoretrust on the Washington coast.
Most people involved in social investing are baby boomers.
Feigenbaum himself is 35. And women, who tend to be more socially and environmentally concerned than men, also are more strongly represented among social investors. A large measure of the growth expected in social investing will come over the next few years when baby boomers inherit their parents' wealth. Baby boomers' growing health concerns also play into social investing. Economic health cannot be traded for environmental health.