Socially Responsible INTERNATIONAL Investing

Mutual Funds are coming up with products to help Socially Responsible U.S. Investors diversify with international companies. The screening criteria is slightly different from domestic SRI funds:

Some investors, impatient with years of sluggish returns from US stocks, have found they can get a bigger bang for their buck in foreign markets. In addition, those who want their overseas investments to have a social impact are dipping into mutual funds geared toward socially responsible investing (SRI).

Eight funds fitting that description now have some $4.6 billion under management. Together, they have racked up a healthy 24.2 percent average annualized return for the three-year period ending March 31, according to fund-tracker Morningstar.

... About 5 of every 6 of the world's 600-plus SRI funds operate overseas. Investors who go with an offshore SRI fund in some ways leave behind the usual focus of US-based SRI funds. The Henderson Industries of the Future Fund, for instance, seeks to invest in child-care providers and builders of affordable housing - two niches that SRI fund companies in the US tend not to emphasize. While most domestic SRI funds operate by screening out problematic industries, this Henderson fund includes only firms in industries deemed to have a positive influence on societies and the planet. With a 67 percent cumulative return since inception in 2002, the fund remains competitive with its American counterparts.