Video

Newsletters

Competitions

Quizzes

Offers

Social Network

Message Boards

Lifestyle detox
Replenish, refresh, revitalise

Holiday advice
Your questions answered

3D baby
Amazing images from the womb

Work & Money

Topics

Succeeding & Surviving

Finding a Job

Community

Computers and Internet

Money

Savings
Budgeting
Property
Family
Insurance
Debt

Hot stuff

Play celebrity baby match

Is debt affecting you?

Newsletters

Promotions

Ethical investment

What is it, who does it and should you consider it? Liz Dolan investigates

When you're taking out a mortgage, buying an insurance policy or investing in a unit trust, do you simply look for the best deal or do you also ask questions about what the company does with your money?

Are you, in other words, an ethical investor, or are you only really interested in making your limited funds stretch as far as possible?

According to a recent survey by research group NOP, more than four in five of us want to know how the bank invests our money, and more than 60 per cent reckon we would find it very difficult to get a straight answer to the question.

Triodos Bank, which commissioned the survey and describes itself as one of Europe's leading ethical banks, says: 'It's alarming that we're the only bank in the country to publish details of every loan we make, so our customers know exactly how we're using their money. Customers have the power to change this situation and make a positive difference to the world around them, simply through the way they save and spend their money.'

Does ethical investment cost you?
Caring about where your money goes can be expensive. The cheapest home loans and the best savings rates are all too often offered by banks that also lend money to some pretty dodgy people and organisations.

You may like the idea of investing only in companies that do good in the world, or at least do no harm to society or the environment, but some of the best performing companies on the stock market operate in some distinctly questionable areas.

Ethical investment is also very complicated. You may react with horror to the idea of your money going into businesses that test drugs on animals or are involved in factory farming, while others reckon these are necessary evils.

They, on the other hand, may disapprove strongly of gambling or alcohol, while you couldn't care less. This makes it very difficult for the managers of ethical investment funds to decide which companies to invest in.

Some solve the problem by avoiding only the most obviously unacceptable areas, such as arms manufacturers or companies with a bad record on pollution. Others exclude all but the most universally acceptable businesses and concentrate heavily on those that do good in the world.