Be Nice and Make Money

People looking to do some good while still making money with their investment decisions have a new way to help them achieve both those goals at once.

BMO Bank of Montreal’s Global Asset Management division has announced the development of an online tool to help bridge the gap between investing to make money and investing with an eye to social or environmental responsibility.

The push towards businesses exhibiting more social awareness in their operations is now called ESG or Environmental, Social, Governance. A study by BMO on whether investors are paying more or less attention to the topic came up with four different approaches. And about one-quarter of the respondents hold strong views on shareholder activism and believe the two – financial returns and solid corporate citizenship – cannot be separated. A slightly larger cohort sees the benefit but is still keeping investment and social decisions separate.

About three-quarters of those surveyed said they believe business can play a positive role in the world and still make a profit while higher net worth investors are more likely to believe that impact can be measured.