Rory Sullivan and Craig Mackenzie (editors). Greenleaf Publishing. 382 pages. £45. Hardback.
This is a book that no professional, academic, or student with an
interest in the emerging field of responsible investment will want to
be without. It sets out to answer three questions: Do responsible
investment strategies actually contribute to improvements in the
social, ethical and environmental performance of companies? To what
extent is it in investors’ interests to encourage higher standards of
corporate responsibility? And do responsible investment strategies
enhance financial performance for investors?
To accomplish this task, it draws on a wide range of contributors (39
in total), many of whom are wizened responsible investment
practitioners. Readers may recognize the names of individual thought
leaders, such as Russell Sparkes and Chris Tuppen, as well as key
institutional players, such as FTSE4Good, Goldman Sachs, Henderson
Global Investors, Innovest, Insight Investment, Morley Fund Management,
Sustainable Asset Management and the UK Social Investment Forum.
One of the consequences of such an impressive stable of authors is that
the book presents a good cross-section of opinions, including
perspectives from investment analysts, fund managers, government
representatives, companies and campaigners. Refreshingly, many chapters
deal with the significant challenges of responsible investment, as well
as its more commonly noted progress and potential.
Although the book takes an in-depth look at enhanced investment
analysis, decision-making and shareholder activism, its self-confessed
limitations relate to its scope. The focus is primarily on the UK and
on investments in equities and bonds. However, the experiences shared
and lessons learned clearly have global implications and arguably set
the benchmark for what responsible investment is all about.
Wayne Visser
