Avanzi SRI Research and SiRi Group have just published the up-to-date version of the well-known survey "Green Social and Ethical Funds in Europe". As for past versions, the 2003 survey takes a census of European retail UCITS funds using ethical, social or environmental screens for portfolio selection.
Among the main findings, the report highlights the increase of available retail SRI funds ( 12%). On 30 June 2003 there were 313 green, social and ethical funds operating in Europe – compared to 280 at the end of December 2001. Nevertheless, total asset under management has dropped by 16% to 12.2 billion.
The high proportion of equity and balanced funds in the SRI industry (around 83% of total assets) has amplified the effect of bearish stock markets during the 18 months ending at last June. SRI Retail funds now account for 0,36% of UCITS in Europe (from 0,40% at December 2001).
The UK continues to make up the majority of European SRI retail assets with nearly 32% of the total. At the same time, SRI funds still make up a very limited portion of all funds in Europe, and the assets under management are just the 0.36% of the total assets managed by European UCITS funds. Country breakdown shows that Belgium leads this special ranking with 1.67%, while Switzerland ranks second at 1.6%.
The report is part of the SRI Funds Service, the most comprehensive data base on European SRI funds, that enables asset managers to build SRI funds portfolios, to benchmark against peer groups, to review SRI policy and criteria. The SRI Funds Service is also used by corporations to better understand the reasons for being included / excluded by SRI portfolio managers. The SRI Funds Service and the report is the result of collective research carried out during the year 2003 by organisations belonging to the Sustainable Investment Research International (SiRi) Group, a world-wide coalition of local research bodies devoted to the advancement of socially responsible investing.
