Association for Sustainable and Responsible Investment in Asia
What is SRI?
INVESTING IN THE PRESENT FOR THE FUTURE
Sustainable and Responsible Investment (SRI), also known as Socially Responsible Investment, is investment which allows investors to take into account wider concerns, such as social justice, economic development, peace or a healthy environment, as well as conventional financial considerations.
The most successful SRI funds provide investors with Triple Bottom Line returns:
SRI is therefore a positive economic choice about the way we live and the world we live in.
- Financial returns that compare well to, and often exceed, the returns of conventional investments
- Social and Environmental rewards that go beyond the direct financial return to the investor
SRI FACTS
- Approximately US$3 trillion invested according to SRI criteria world-wide
- 30+ SRI fund providers already in Asia, including 9 SRI in Japan and 13+ in Australia
- ASrIA’s 50+ financial and corporate members clearly shows the rapidly growing interest in SRI in Asia
- 579 corporates in Japan published environmental reports in 2002, up from 197 in 1999 when the 1st Eco fund launched in Japan. 1st full corporate sustainability report published in Hong Kong in 2002
- Australia requires disclosure of the extent to which labour, social, environmental and ethical standards are taken into account by pension funds