scholarly journals Fund Ratings of Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) Funds: A Precautionary Note

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 7548
Author(s):  
Pornanong Budsaratragoon ◽  
Boonlert Jitmaneeroj
Keyword(s):  
Mutual Fund ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Socially Responsible Investing ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Causal Relationships ◽  
Socially Responsible ◽  
Rating Agencies ◽  
Fund Managers ◽  
Responsible Investing ◽  
The U.S

We examine fund ratings of socially responsible investing (SRI) equity funds in emerging and developed markets by validating the assumptions of the equally weighted U.S. News mutual fund scorecard and the causal interrelations among its rating agencies—Morningstar, Lipper, Zacks, CFRA and TheStreet—for improvement priorities. In so doing, we apply a novel interdisciplinary methodology including cluster analysis, classification analysis, partial least squares structural equation modeling and importance performance analysis. We find evidence against the U.S. News assumptions, as individual rating agencies have unequal effects and exhibit the causal relationships among one another. We suggest emerging (developed) market fund managers allocate their resources—which are often limited—with the first priority to improving fund ratings of CFRA (Zacks), followed by Zacks (CFRA), TheStreet (Lipper), Lipper (Morningstar) and Morningstar (TheStreet). The positive causal relationships among rating agencies indicates that investors consider multiple rating agencies of the U.S. News for investment decisions, rather than simply use any single one of these rating agencies or their equally weighted aggregation. Interestingly, we find disagreement among rating agencies, with Zack (TheStreet) displaying rating deflation for emerging (developed) market funds. Disagreement among rating agencies may increase the monitoring effort of fund managers who usually “shop” for additional ratings in the hope of maximizing their average ratings.

A Special-Purpose Taxonomy of Corporate Social Performance Concepts

2001 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 42-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brett A. Stone
Keyword(s):  
Mutual Fund ◽  
Corporate Social Performance ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Social Performance ◽  
Socially Responsible ◽  
Fund Managers ◽  
Responsible Investing ◽  
Research Areas ◽  
Socially Responsible Mutual Funds ◽  
Corporate Social

The first iteration of a nonstatic special-purpose taxonomy of corporate social performance concepts is developed from a mailed, self-administered survey completed by managers of U.S. socially responsible mutual funds. The study combines the traditionally disparate research areas of Corporate Social Performance and Socially Responsible Investing. As a partial update of Rockness and Williams (1988), a descriptive account is presented of what mutual fund managers regard as the social issues that constitute corporate social performance. The resulting taxonomy represents an empirically derived framework useful in considering social accounting in general and accounting standard setting in particular.

Modeling brand resonance score (BRS) – an application in financial services

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 119-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ande Raja Ambedkar ◽  
Punniyamoorthy Murugesan ◽  
N. Thamaraiselvan
Keyword(s):  
Mutual Fund ◽  
Financial Services ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Analytic Network Process ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Service Firms ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Fund Managers ◽  
Network Process ◽  
Brand Resonance

Purpose The experts in industry and academicians value brand resonance is the prerequisite factor in the firms of financial services. In this regard, the purpose of this paper is to model the brand resonance score (BRS) for modified customer-based brand equity (CBBE) model in mutual fund financial services using structural equation modeling (SEM) and analytic network process (ANP). Design/methodology/approach Criteria and sub-criteria relative weights are calculated from the SEM and sub-sub-criteria relative weights are measured through pair-wise comparison matrix for BRS modeling using ANP approach. Findings The brand resonance using ANP has been quantified, and BRSs of each brand through brand judgments and brand feelings criteria are calculated using two renowned Indian mutual fund services brands State Bank of India and Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation. Research limitations/implications Interdependency between sub-criteria are not explored. This research study is specific to Indian bank mutual fund services context. Practical implications Research findings provide useful guidelines for fund managers/analysts of mutual fund service firms to improve the brand resonance to investors. Originality/value The paper explained modeling BRS using ANP technique which helps organizations quantify the brand resonance effectively.

Is knowledge alone enough for socially responsible investing? A moderation of religiosity and serial mediation analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pooja Mehta ◽  
Manjit Singh ◽  
Manju Mittal ◽  
Himanshu Singla
Keyword(s):  
Socially Responsible Investing ◽  
Partial Least Square ◽  
Least Square ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Socially Responsible ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Responsible Investing ◽  
Serial Mediation ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose This study aims to test the serial mediation effect of attitude toward socially responsible investing (SRI) and social investing efficacy (SIE) on the relationship of knowledge about SRI with the intention to invest in SRI along with moderating effect of religiosity. Design/methodology/approach The study uses a quantitative analysis approach, wherein the data has been collected from 569 north Indian retail investors. Partial least square (PLS)-structural equation modeling has been applied in this study using the latest version of SmartPLS (v. 3.2.8) software to examine the complex model of serial and moderated mediation. Findings Attitude toward SRI and SIE significantly and serially mediate the relationship between knowledge about SRI and intention to invest in SRI. Also, the interaction effect of religiosity with knowledge about SRI is significant only for SIE and not for attitude toward SRI. Research limitations/implications The study is cross-sectional in nature conducted only on the north Indian investors. Besides knowledge, there can be many other personal or social aspects that might affect SRI intention that have not been taken into the study. Practical implications The results suggested that the companies, financial advisors and governmental bodies can improvise upon social and environmental performance reporting so that investment in SRI can be promulgated. Social implications The paper concludes that religious-minded people are more open to the idea of investing in SRI. India, being is a religious-minded country, the results of this study suggest that there is good potential for the development of SRI in India. Originality/value Empirical evidence regarding the relationship of SRI intention with its determinants is limited in Asian countries. Prior literature mainly provides evidence from developed countries where social and governance systems are comparatively stronger. The study provides evidence for the bright future of SRI in India, where investor’s beliefs are dominated by their religious values.

Understanding Socially Responsible Investing and Its Implications for Islamic Investment Industry

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Mohd Nizam Barom
Keyword(s):  
Investment Decision ◽  
Socially Responsible Investing ◽  
Clear Understanding ◽  
Socially Responsible ◽  
Responsible Investment ◽  
Developed Economies ◽  
Responsible Investing ◽  
Screening Strategies ◽  
Investment Process ◽  
Islamic Investment

Understanding Socially Responsible Investing and Its Implications for Islamic Investment Industry // // // // // Social, ethical and environmental concerns have been used as important consideration for investment decision by an increasing number of investors. This can be seen by the size and growth of the socially responsible investment (SRI) industry in the developed economies. At the same time, scholars and commentators of Islamic finance have also called for Islamic investment industry to learn from the experience of SRI in incorporating social responsibility issues in the investment process, in line with the ethical principles of Islam and the overall objective of the Shari’ah (Maqasid al-Shari’ah). This would require Islamic investment sector to have a clear understanding of the SRI industry in order to effectively benefit from its experience. This is particularly critical due to the significant diversity of investors and complexity in the issues and strategies adopted in the SRI industry. Hence, this paper adds to the Islamic investment literature by providing an extensive  and systematic survey of SRI industry in terms of its (i) underlying motivations and values; (ii) issues of concerns; (iii) types of investors; and (iv) screening strategies. It then synthesizes these components within the context of the ‘value-based’ investors. This synthesized framework offers a useful tool for Islamic investment practitioners to understand the theoretical and practical aspects of SRI. Subsequently, the paper highlights important implications of the findings for Islamic investment industry in terms of the issues that it needs to consider in emulating SRI practices and a number of lessons that it can learn from the SRI experience.  

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