Slavery Free Investments None of us wants to profit from slavery. It is likely that through what we’ve worn and eaten today we have touched slave-made goods. It is also likely that investors—from those of us with a small amount of money in a mutual fund to people who manage large portfolios—are profiting from businesses with slavery in their supply chain. There is something that we can do about it. For individual investors:
Ask your mutual fund, retirement account provider or investment manager to ensure that your investments are fighting slavery, not feeding it. For investment managers:
Become an industry leader in using investments as an anti-slavery tool. For everyone:
Each of us is part of some institution with major investments: a university, faith community, employer pension system, etc. Ask that these institutions use their investments to fight slavery.
Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) providers are way out front when it comes to helping individuals and institutions use their investments for social aims. Working with one of these providers, you or your institution can help fight slavery using three tools: Screens—excluding offending companies
Shareholder activism—investing in offending publicly traded companies in order to speak out as a shareholder and force better anti-slavery practices
Community investment—investing in businesses that specifically benefit communities coming out of slavery; for example, investing in businesses that sell products made by cooperatives of former slaves who are rebuilding their lives
SRIs specialize in knowing when to use each tool to most effectively fight abuses like slavery. To find a listing of Socially Responsible Investment providers, click here.
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