Media
Contact Mark Robertson, +44 (0)20 7840 5741, ethicalnews@eiris.org
Key facts & figures
How much public money is invested ethically in the UK?
As at 31 December 2008 there was approximately £6.8 billion invested in Britain's green and ethical retail funds. This estimate is based on 81 UK domiciled green and ethical retail funds. It does not include UK money invested in ethical funds domiciled outside of the UK, or in off-shore funds.
Historic ethical investment data:
| Year | Pooled green & ethical fund size(£m) |
|---|---|
| 1989 (July) | 199 |
| 1990 | not available |
| 1991 (July) | 318 |
| 1992 (May) | 372 |
| 1993 (May) | 448 |
| 1994 (July) | 672 |
| 1995 (June) | 792 |
| 1996 (June) | 1,088 |
| 1997 (June) | 1,465 |
| 1998 (June) | 2,198 |
| 1999 (June) | 2,447 |
| 2000 (June) | 3,296 |
| 2001 (June) | 4,025 |
| 2002 (Mar) | 3,800 |
| 2003 (June) | 3,570 |
| 2004 (June) | 4,555 |
| 2004 (Dec) | 5.532 |
| 2005 (Dec) | 6,078 |
| 2006 (Dec) | 7,490 |
| 2007 (Dec) | 8,881 |
| 2008 (Dec) | 6,794 |
Ethical Investment Timeline
- Ethical investment has a long history dating back to the 19th century. Its roots can be found amongst religious investors such as the Methodists and the Quakers, whose concerns included issues such as temperance and fair employment conditions
- Ethical business practices can be traced to back to the industrial revolution when factory owners attempted to improve working and living conditions for employees
- First 'modern' ethical mutual fund - the PAX fund - was launched in 1971 to avoid investments linked to the Vietnam war
- 1983 - EIRIS was established as the UK's first independent research service for ethical investors
- 1984 - Friends Provident Stewardship Fund launched, the UK's first ethical unit trust
- Early 1980s - the international campaign against apartheid in South Africa became a significant catalyst for the emergence of other ethical funds
- Period also sees growing concern over environmental issues - brought to the fore by disasters such as Exxon Valdez and Chernobyl
- 1990s – the universe of ethical funds expands considerably. By the decade’s end around £3.3 billion is invested in over 50 ethical funds
- 2000 - change in UK law means occupational pension schemes have to say if they take account of any social, environmental or ethical factors when deciding what stocks to invest in. Several other countries have since followed suit such as Australia, Sweden and Germany
- 2001 - launch of FTSE4Good Indices, supported by EIRIS research
- 2008 - £9 billion invested in Britain's green and ethical retail funds - up from £1.5billion ten years ago
- This growth has also been reflected globally, for example Asia has seen the launch of several ethical funds in places like Japan and Singapore
- Growing consumer interest in issues climate change, poverty, fair trade, globalisation, human rights and environment continues to boost the number of people investing ethically in the UK
- 2009 - launch of YourEthicalMoney.org - the UK's first independent, non-profit, one-stop-shop consumer website on ethical money launched
