About 10 years ago we'd invested in a socially responsible mutual fund called Calvert, and we decided to do the same thing for our daughter's money. Gaskin is among a growing number of investors putting their principal where their principles are. Though socially responsible mutual funds have been around for more than three decades, the last few years have seen tremendous growth, according to the Social Investment Forum, a nonprofit organization in Washington that is to dedicated to promoting and monitoring the socially responsible investment. Absolutely, according to Business Week. Over the same period, institutional tax-exempt assets under management in the U.S. grew by 84 percent.
Tobacco is now the common denominator for virtually every social investment fund.
According to 1997 Social Investment Forum figures, more than 97 percent of managers running screened portfolios and 84 percent of all socially screened assets avoid investing in tobacco companies. By 1995 there were 55, and just two years later 144. These funds not only bring in business, the firms have found, but do well for them. For example, Dreyfus offers the Premier Third Century Fund, started in 1972, which makes it one of the oldest. You do what Gaskin did - research.