Typical socially responsible investors tilt their portfolios toward stocks of
companies with high scores on social responsibility characteristics and shun
stocks of companies associated with tobacco, alcohol, gambling, firearms, and
military or nuclear operations. Analyzing 1992–2007 returns of stocks
rated on social responsibility, this study found that this tilt gave such
investors an advantage over conventional investors. The study also found that
shunning resulted in a disadvantage for such investors relative to conventional
investors. The advantage from tilting toward stocks of companies with high
social responsibility scores is largely offset by the disadvantage from the
exclusion of stocks of shunned companies. Socially responsible investors can
thus do both well and good by adopting the best-in-class method in constructing
their portfolios: tilting toward stocks of companies with high scores on social
responsibility characteristics but refraining from shunning stocks of any
company.