Is transparency everything?
Alan Kirkham describes a Quaker-led investment initiative
How often have we, as individuals, been put off buying something because we are not really sure what it is we are actually buying into? Have you ever, for example, put off starting a pension, getting insurance, or even choosing an ISA (Individual Savings Account) because it is too hard to understand what you are committing yourself to? Even if you do decide to invest – and go one-step further and choose to invest ethically – how can you be sure that you have a way of influencing the people setting the ‘ethical profile’ for your money? Most ethical fund managers will listen and some will be influenced – but none actually institutionalises a process that allows investors to have a meaningful say. Then there is a further hurdle. If you feel strongly about an issue in an ethical fund and you would like that issue to be addressed – how do you know if any other investors feel the same? Individual investors are not told who else is investing.
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