What does it mean to invest.
When we talk about investments, we mean the purchase of an asset or security with the hope that it will generate income or increase in value in the future. These purchased assets can be shares, bonds, real estate or investment fund shares.
It is possible to have two positions regarding these purchased goods, either you invest believing in your purchase with the intention of keeping it for a long time, or you speculate by trying to capitalize on the inefficiencies of the market to obtain short-term profit.
Why investing in an ethical way.
Economic growth has always had positive aspects: increasing in life expectancy, increasing in equality between women and men, increasing in the literacy rate, decreasing in poverty. However, there are also negative consequences such as side effects on the environment, repercussions on civil society and negative effects on Corporate Governance.
In recent years, the issue of globalization has changed the approach to economic systems. The financial crisis of 2008 caused enormous economic losses and led various financial operators to question the fact that profit alone, as an aim of economic activities, was not enough if not accompanied by the achievement of the common good. This led to the idea of an economic development that does not exclude the principle of sustainability, identified in the acronym ESG (Environmental Social Governance). With this new concept there are three aspects to take into consideration: first, respect for the environmental eco-system, there can be no sustainable development to the detriment of the environment; then there must be respect for human and social rights, common to all human beings; finally, respect for the law and a system of shared rules summarized by the term Governance.
Investing ethically means investing using strategies that allow a competitive financial return but also to mitigate and, if possible, cancel ethical risks, ESG risks.
The ESG approach, as a medium to long-term strategy in the field of investments, offers an even more in-depth analysis of securities if there is a “faith based” approach based on religious faith, by using a strategy that allows not only to consider the titles to be excluded but also those to be included.
An investor who follows a religious moral doctrine will pay even more attention to the ethics of their investments. For example, he will make sure that the listed companies in which he invests respect the values of life, of the environment, of work and family and, without seeking only profit, he will follow the principles of a religious faith.
Mr. Michele Mifsud. Chartered Financial Consultant of Italian
“Organismo di vigilanza e tenuta dell’albo unico dei consulenti finanziari”
