Word: dominie
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GETTING GREENER More companies are adding socially responsible funds to their 401(k)s. Even Ford and GM have started offering a few, including the Domini Social Equity index fund, which refuses to invest in environmentally unfriendly carmakers. Greens tend to be tech-heavy, and some index funds paid the price. The top-rated managed funds were able to beat the S&P with a clear conscience...
...number of socially inclined investors, performance isn't the only consideration when purchasing stock. The newly launched Corporate Social Research Center on socialfunds.com's site does social and environmental assessments on more than 1,000 U.S. and foreign companies, including those listed in the S&P 500 and the Domini Social Index. It's a fast way to see how companies rank in categories like employee relations, community programs and hazardous-waste disposal...
...Boston University grad who started as a photocopy clerk at a brokerage, Domini, 50, manages $1.17 billion in private portfolios as well as her $1.89 billion Domini Social Equity Funds, the oldest and biggest socially and environmentally screened index funds in the U.S. Domini does not just exclude "booze, butts and bets"--alcohol, tobacco and gambling stocks. She also files shareholder resolutions and haggles with Walt Disney for better working conditions overseas or with Coca-Cola for more recycling. "Global companies are more powerful than governments," she says. "The way we invest creates the world we live...
...Domini did not invent socially responsible investing. Shareholder activism grew up during the Vietnam War and the anti-apartheid struggle. Today some 150 mutual funds screen out politically incorrect companies. But more than anyone, Domini made ethical investing a mass-market option. Ten years ago, with two partners, she set up the Domini 400 Social Index, a benchmark for responsible portfolios. Its companies must pass muster on 140 issues, ranging from toxic-waste fines to diversity in top management. Yet Domini has kept pace with the S&P 500--a feat managed by fewer than a third of other mutual...
...Before, people would just carve out evil companies," says John Biggs, head of TIAA-CREF, the pension-fund giant, which launched its own social fund. "Amy brings investment discipline with social concerns." Domini's latest crusade: persuading the $7 trillion U.S. mutual-fund industry to post shareholder-resolution votes on its websites. "It's outrageous that managers are not telling investors how they vote," says Domini. "The small investor wants to fatten her wallet, but she also wants to breathe clean air and work in a safe environment...