Changing trends in ethical investment

What is considered 'ethical' can change over time and new issues can become important. Ethical funds must keep up with the consensus to stay relevant to investors

A commonly held view is that it is possible to label something as either 'ethical' or 'unethical'. On the face of it, such a label should not be problematic as there is often a strong consensus among the public on many issues. Yet, in practice, over the period of a number of years and across a substantial number of people, a consensus often shifts. As such, defining what constitutes 'ethical' represents a major challenge for those involved with ethical investment funds. Carrying out detailed research into issues, as many ethical fund managers do, adds to this complexity, as in reality the...