For the past six years, Jack Brill has participated in a New York Times mutual fund study. Returns from the other portfolios range from a high of 212 percent to a low of 126 percent. Natural Investors can indeed achieve excellent real-world returns utilizing socially responsible mutual funds. Many newcomers to Natural Investing are surprised at how easy it is to make the performance case. We've all been trained to believe that we have to give up something in order to do the right thing.
Many studies show that responsible corporate behavior brings measurable benefits to the bottom line.
Simply put, companies that take care of their employees, their communities and the environment tend to be better managed and more profitable in the long run. We would like to include our values in our investments, and know that social investors are earning good financial returns. These are important and complex questions. Rarely is there a singular cause for changes in corporate policy. The process of infusing consciousness into capitalism is a bit like eroding a stone with drops of water.