This blog was in Tumeloâs email today
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The FTâs arguing that ethical investing & making money are in conflict here -
Iâve just seen a nice (although quite corporate) counterpoint from someone at a16z (one of Silicon Valleyâs biggest VCs) though -
customers who care about social responsibility can not only leave, but can influence corporate behavior in the same way that customers who request or desire new features or service offerings do. And itâs the job of the board and the executive team to respond to this broad array of customer demands and prioritize them appropriately. Failing to do so will mean the end of the corporation and the destruction of shareholder value. In this way, responding appropriately (and proportionally) to customer needs drive long-term growth, profitability, and shareholder value. Everyone wins.
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Thanks for sharing @Freetrade_Team1
There is a biting point where you have to be earnings focused as thereâs a business to run but also exploring if there is growth opportunity in demonstrating that you as a business care about other factors. Which I think there is. Thereâll always be scenarios were people may not care, but thereâs definitely a growing interest in people not wanting to financially support obvious negative causes.
Lots of companies are exploring the triple bottom line - People, Planet, Profit.
Speaking of which - when are you getting some SRI ETFâs or stocks on the platform lol?
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If I objected to what I didnât like in a company I couldnât invest in any of them.
So my limits are gambling and tobacco. I wonât invest in any of the new cannabis firms either despite believing they will make a huge profit.
Iâve not come across anything else that I utterly refuse to invest in as not a single part of it could I support. I think that is the key thing. So for example I donât like pharmaceutical firms for various reasons such as the way they test products etc, but I still invest in them as I still overall support the work they do which after making money of course is to help to make people better.
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I agree.
Businesses arenât one dimensional, just like people there will be good and bad aspects to all of them.
I try to look at it as a ratio, if I feel they either:
*do more good than bad, or
*the good they do outweighs the bad theyâve done
Making a cool product isnât good to me, its expected - but more things like what youâve said in terms of saving peoples lives vs. animal testing.
It has to be case by case, because take ETFâs as an example. you may have 1 firm thatâs âunethicalâ and 499 that are âokayâ so it becomes a challenge for an investor.
Oil, tobacco, gambling, companies with poor records in workers rights, poor environmental records, Nestle, Manchester UnitedâŠ
People are more conscious that their decisions matter
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Okay Iâm going to have to sell my Imperial Brands now - I feel convicted!
Indeed before freetrade I felt that problem. It is nearly impossible not to invest in either a gambling firm or a tobacco firm in a funds since these are such huge enterprises. It is one reason I am delighted to be able to invest in individual stocks and why I can enjoy investing that much more. I wonât stop using funds, but itâs great to feel happy with your portfolio.
Another nasty one is companies who makes guns and bombs. Iâm not a pacifist, but I really hate war and killing. I havenât invested in a defence company yet, still not sure what I think! 
Itâs actually not so much the weapons making as the customer base I object tooâŠ!
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Yeah like Lockheed Martin - just donât go near those.
The way I see it - is if they need to âdefendâ the government will give them money anyway and get into debt. They donât need mine.
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Unfortunately a company who isnât allowed to sell its products doesnât survive. A country who cannot buy weapons doesnât survive either. Without getting any further politically! 
Problems!!
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Not investing in Britishâs American Tobacco cost me a bit over 30% earlier this year. Still donât know how I feel about this. People will buy tobacco whether I invest or not. Also how about how countries are built off the profit of tobacco crops ( I know itâs a reach 
). But getting serious again what about the advertising agencies, or tech companies who take their money? It gets all complicated in my mind. Maybe Iâm overthinking it.
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It is one of those things that everyone has to be persuaded and answer for themselves.
I invest in oil. Some people that is an anathema. They couldnât possibly support BP, polluting environments, supporting dodgy regimes, dirty dirty money in so many ways. I get that, but I drive a car, fly on planes, use plastic and want BP to continue doing that for me. If Imperial Tobacco and Ladbrokes goes belly up the world will be a better place. Sadly they wonât. 
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I agree with @Rollingskies
Itâs a question that has to be asked and answered with oneself and ones own worldview.
But just the very fact that people question before investing is a great start.
I understand the argument that if I donât invest others will, but to me, weirdly, that supports my use case as they donât need my money.
One unrelated advice is when Warren Buffet says not every stock is an opportunity, you donât have to invest in everything - and although that was not about ethical but more about FOMO and controlling choices - I think it applies equally in this scenario.
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Tobacco farmers need jobs too 
Iâm kidding, they can grow something else.
Yeah, I didnât invest in British American Tobacco but have a small position in Imperial Brands*.
*blame @Certi.Curtiâs videos ( Iâm kidding but subscribe to his YouTube 
).
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Quite true⊠wasnât there a vegetable shortage not too long ago thatâll cost UK supermarkets like ÂŁ8m
haha am I an influencer?- Iâll probably sell soon because this thread always gets me thinking. I think Tobacco is the lowest of my ethical threshold but still on the wrong side.
Thanks for the shoutout!
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Strange as it sounds, I could barely care less about so-called socially responsible investing.
To my mind, itâs bordering on virtue signalling and I donât invest to be some sort of moral arbiter.
The problemâs that it is so subjective. You could argue that nigh-on any company is ethically questionable in some way or another, so I prefer to park such considerations at the door.
Each to their own though!
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I have no problem investing in Tobacco, smoking is a choice. I donât do it but while people have that choice Iâm OK with making a few quid off it. For a long time I didnât invest in tobacco out of fear that people would stop being so stupid. Now Iâm confident thatâs not gonna happen 
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No Itâs not strange at all, I understand.
I genuinely agree with the fact that every company is questionable ethically, but for me personally what the business sells vs. some things they may have done is slightly different. Both matter to me but one more so than the other.
Investing you kind of feel a few steps removed from the actual organisation (although weâre âownersâ) but if for example we had to walk into a weapons company and directly give them our money and watch them use it to make a gun to give to someone - I wonder if people will feel differently.
I actually invested in IMB not because of Tobacco per se - but because of the growth of E-cigs which is materially better than cigarettes - and I assumed that would continue to drive earnings - I also assumed they would get into Marijuana some day - which is arguably healthier.