But way before the Enron, WorldCom and other financial scandals, there already existed investment funds whose behaviour was the antithesis of that of those suspect companies.

Ethical investment is a fast growing phenomenon, with over two billion dollars (a little over two billion euros) moving across the world's financial markets every day. These assets are significant in that they have no link whatsoever with companies that do business in the following areas: weapons, underage labour, nuclear energy, tobacco, gambling, money laundering, alcoholic beverages, pornography, forestry, irresponsible marketing or lack of financial transparency.

Other respectable funds specialize in specific areas such as environmental and architectural protection, the promotion of solar energy or organic agriculture, the support of racial minorities or the handicapped.

The origin of ethical funds can be traced back to the U.S. during the time of the Vietnam war. The toxic napalm bombings horrified a group of investors to such an extent that they boycotted the company that manufactured these products as well as its partners, collaborators and providers. There are now hundreds of funds the world over that support the controlling of business practices.

 

The experts believe that the profitability of ethical funds match that of any other fund. But the opposite is true, as charity may be one thing, but business is altogether a different story. Also, a number of market analysts believe that the companies that respect certain ethical business practices tend to better managed and more efficient in their activities. There is in fact an index called Domini, made up of 400 socially committed companies, that over several years topped that of Standard & Poors (made up of the world's top 500 companies).

 

The prestige that companies take on when offering ethical funds is one of the main reasons why fund managers offer this type of investment in their portfolios. The consumers themselves, meanwhile, consider the existence of these types of companies in these portfolios a laudable progression.