Ethical Investment

GREAT NEWS

The university have recently agreed to rewrite their SRI - socially responsible investment - policy which means that they've listened to all the campaigning this year! This means greater restrictions on the ethics of who Cambridge University invests their funds in (e.g disinvestment in arms trade)

SO.... What is ethical investment about?

Basically, as consumers, we really do have an influence on the 'wider world'. The choices we make with the products we buy and the companies we might invest in links into the trade that we support, whether we realise it or not. By boycotting companies whose environmental or ethical policies you disagree with we can make a difference to profits and show businesses that we approve or dissapprove with what they do. A massive step to improving this is simply being aware of 'the goodies' and 'the baddies' and making the choices that reflect your beliefs. That might sound like hard work so check out the 'Website' section for some links to sites that research companies for you and suggest those that you might want to boycott. Responsible individuals that we now are, it is up to us to make the decisions that have a positive effect on the wider global community.

Universities like Cambridge, like any other institution, have to invest their funds somewhere and there are not always restricitons on where this money goes. The university Ethical Investment Campaign can be found

HERE http://www.green.cusu.cam.ac.uk/campaigns/ethicalinvestment/university.html

and asks that Cambridge should not invest in companies inconsistent with the university's educational and research objectives, or companies that commit human rights abuses. As well as disinvestment, they encourage positive investment, for example in companies that promote protection of the environment, sustainable provision of resources and good business ethics.

Ethical investment at Robinson

At Robinson we don't hold any direct investments. Instead our money is invested through a Tracker Fund and it is the responsibility of the Fund Manager to chose exactly where the money we invest goes; they may change this according to market fluctuations and what they think the most suitable investments at that time are.

This doesn't mean, however, that it can't still be invested specific to an SRI policy. Their are specifically socially responsible tracker funds available which would have similar ideals to the policy outlined at CUSU. It's early days but we will be talking to the finance bursar and hope to get one of these at Robinson.

What you can do

  • BE AWARE - It's your money, so make sure you know where it goes! Look at the website section for links to sites like corporatewatch.org - might sound a bit intense but these give you company profiles and help you chose shops, banks and companies that will do good things with your contribution! Definitely worth the effort..

  • TELL BUSINESSES WHAT YOU THINK - If your bank invests in arms trade , for example, and you entirely disagree with this, write and tell them! If your favourite make up tests on animals and this causes you great grief, write and tell them! You get the idea.. as the consumer it's you that companies depend on for their profit and if enough people demand change you might just get it! Worth a try and you get to write a righteous angry letter in the process. Whoop.