Socially Responsible Investment Fund
Managing a socially responsible investment fund is one of the new learning experiences the University of California, Berkeley’s Haas School of Business is offering its graduate students for the first time this fall.
The new Haas Socially Responsible Investment (HSRI) Fund came about thanks to a $250,000 gift from Haas School alumnus Charlie Michaels and his wife, Doris. Charlie Michaels earned his undergraduate business degree at the Haas School in 1978 and now serves as the president of Sierra Global Management, an investment management firm in New York City.
The fund will be managed by UC Berkeley MBA and Master’s in Financial Engineering (MFE) students with the advice of an investment advisory committee and a Haas School faculty advisory committee. Its investment philosophy will be to achieve a balance between financial and social or environmental performance.
Interesting idea. On top of generating returns you must also be socially responsible.
on September 25th, 2007 at 6:05 pm
oil and tobacco companies have provided some of the best investment returns over the past century.
one example: PetroChina
investors wanted Warren Buffett to divest his interest in PTR because they did drilling in a country with an oppressive regime. Buffett did not divest citing that PTR is still a good investment and that divesting his shares would not really do anything to the oppressive regime. Nevertheless, he put the matter to vote on his board.
Over the past 2 years, if you had bought PTR on Sept 26th (worth $81.75/share), it would be worth $175/share today NOT including dividends.
Being morally responsible is economically retarded in many cases.
on September 27th, 2007 at 12:10 am
hahaha yea. but in this way u can also feel like u get good karma!