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Businesses are hearing more from constituencies that have a powerful say in how capital should be assessed and value created. A growing number of consumers and workers, organizations and individuals, continue to reinforce a known belief by many in the SRI and philanthropy communities that people favor purchasing from, and working for, companies that make a positive sustainable difference. Recent events highlight the growing need for accountability to stockholders, stakeholders, employees, and society. Over $2.16 trillion resides in professionally managed portfolios utilizing one or more of the three strategies that today define socially responsible investing in the U.S. - screening, shareholder advocacy, and community investing, according to the Social Investment Forum ("SIF"). This is the equivalent of nearly one of every nine dollars of the United States Gross Domestic Product invested in socially responsible businesses. The growth rate for socially screened portfolio assets from 1999 through 2003 was 240 percent versus the 174 percent growth in all professionally managed assets in the United States, according to the 2003 Report on Socially Responsible Investing Trends in the United States (1mb PDF file; requires Adobe Acrobat Reader). In terms of attracting investor assets, socially screened mutual funds grew (on a net basis) in 2002 while the rest of the mutual fund industry contracted. |