Does the notion of Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) impact your investing decisions. If so, to what degree? What industries do you avoid? I'll be candid, when I was younger a give a rip, but I don't know. I wouldn't invest in something truly immoral or repugnant, but it isn't a huge factor in the decision making process.
I'll also be candid. I grew up in a South East Asian country where laws are broken pretty regularly and you can get away with anything with money. So yes, I'd invest in a company that's immoral IF they aren't actively doing illegal stuff that will get them caught. Also, saying you wouldn't invest in an immoral company makes it tougher on you as an investor, because I think ALL successful companies have done some questionable things to get to where they are
Nope, I never think about it. One of the biggest reasons is: when I buy shares from the market and not from an IPO I'm not giving any money to that company. I'm giving money to another investor. So really, even super large transactions won't really benefit the company except by maybe pushing their share price up very slightly. I do however do the opposite, I look for companies that I want to own just for the sake of owning them. Kind of a personal thing, but I love to know that I own a small piece of a company that I really support. For example if Space X would go public, I can already tell you that I would buy at least 1 share even before I've seen the financials. Of course investments like this can get you burned really easily, so it's important to keep emotions out of it when deciding how much to buy and to make sure that the total of such "emotional investments" is only a small fraction of the total portfolio.
Money is the root of all evil. If at all you believe that adage then if you go a level lower you'll find that all companies will do WHATEVER it takes to make more profits. That we don't get to hear about their unethical business practices doesn't mean that they don't exist. For that reason when investing I don't let social responsibility get in my way of selecting only the stocks that will make me decent cash. Nonetheless there are lines I'll never cross. I'd never buy MONSANTO stocks which probably is the most "unethical" company on the planet.
I'll be honest, it rarely bothers me. After all, they are trying to make money, just like me. It's business, that's all. Obviously, I wouldn't invest in anything run by pedophiles or neo-Nazis or whatever, but on the whole, it's just part of the cut and thrust of the business world.
One other thing I'll add is that I'm not entirely convinced ethical investing is all that effective as a means of social change. If investor X doesn't invest in company Y, how much impact does that really make? It is hard to imagine it is a ton, because industries that some individuals don't care for one reason or another are doing just fine.
As I mentioned earlier it only affects the share price, nothing else. Besides a better way to make a difference would be to own this particular stock and then bring up issues in the shareholder meetings. Though to have any real difference the changes would have to be something that don't affect income negatively because if they do then no one would accept those.
I sympathize with the question. But I'm pretty sure that when my time comes, I'll be a cold heart investor. It's nice to know from @crimsonghost747's explanation, that investing in X company's stock doesn't effect them directly though... I think that there are better ways to make a difference, other than careful stock picking anyway... And when it comes to these kind of moral questioning about investment, I always go to a sweet Daymond John quote: "First you make it, then you master it, and only then can you matter."
