If you’re an investor looking for alpha, how does a growth rate of 76 percent over two years’ time sound? That’s the rate of increase in socially responsible investment assets from 2012 to the start of 2014. Those assets totaled $6.5 trillion dollars, by the way. According to the Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment, US SIF, from 1995 to 2014 the SRI sector increased 929 percent, with a compound annual growth rate of 13.6 percent, some pretty impressive figures.

And there are more big numbers that add to this story: in 1995, there were 55 funds focused on socially responsible practices or environmental, social, and governance factors. By 2010, those numbers had risen to 493 such funds with $569 billion in assets. By the end of 2014, there were 925 ESG funds representing $4.3 trillion in assets. The bottom line? Smart investors looking for filters that offer maximum guidance for managing risk and maximizing revenue are increasingly looking to SRI funds as a best bet for returns.

I’m John Howell for 3BL Media.

Video Source: Socially Responsible Investment By the Numbers