Do Socially-Responsible Mutual Funds Perform better than Conventional Research Paper

Do Socially-Responsible Mutual Funds Perform better than Conventional Mutual Funds - Research Paper Example In addition, it includes incorporation of local communities in order to further its aim to achieve its goals (Schepers, 2009). Socially responsible investment has for years been viewed as the practice for individuals who are interested in social change and who aim to yield much profit at the end. There was a time when it was hard or difficult to establish a socially responsible portfolio that was competitive on market because the socially responsible investing universe was not large. But that is the past since time have changed in that in modern day there are more than 100 mutual funds that incorporate social screens in their management decisions which aim to improve their profits. Investors are in a position to create portfolio that is competitive and real to their social concerns. In addition, there exist more direct investment opportunities such as buying certificates of deposits with local or community banks (Vogel, 2006). Mutual funds Mutual funds are said to be investment capit al of distinct type. In this regard, investment fund refers to the variety of investments such as stocks, bonds and other types of funds. Mutual funds are different from most of distinct types of funds present. In this sense, mutual funds are referred to as open-ended meaning that as the number of people investing in the funds rises, the funds also increases its units in the market. Mutual funds concentrate on specific category of investment such as large firms stocks and government bonds of certain Nations. In addition, few of the mutual funds might slightly invest in combination of stocks and bonds in distinct mutual funds. For many years, investing in mutual funds has been viewed as safe mode of investment as it incorporates both individual capitals with many different investors, which makes investors to invest in different types of investment at less cost (Renneboog et al 2008). There are two different types of mutual funds investment namely; socially responsible mutual funds an d conventional mutual funds. The socially responsible mutual funds involve certain factors to consider while making decision concerning the firm to invest in. Socially responsible funds perform better because the funds apply their ownership rights to manipulate management via policy alteration or change suggestions. They ensure that this advocacy is attained through attending shareholders meetings, exercising voting rights in companies, writing letters to top management, and filing proposals. In most scenarios, it is very hard for shareholders to hold and exercise their voting rights. Therefore voting are attained via proxy. Many investors advocate socially responsible funds because they have strict policy that aim to maintain transparency in decisions and disclose all proxy voting procedures, policies and conducting voting rights of its shareholders (Schepers, 2009). On the other hand, the conventional mutual funds is concerned with the prospects and financial performance of firms combined with significant factors while investing. Discussion Over the years, there has been a tremendous increase in the number of socially responsible mutual funds. The issue of social investment has been subject of debate for many years. However, the modern manner of investment has been because of financial crisis that began in 1930s. At that time, there were many issues available

English Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

English Assignment - Essay Example Sometimes, only dancing in front of the mirror when nobody else is watching me helps me know myself more. I am surprised at the ideas on different ways to move my body that I get; they unveil hidden portions of my personality that I only get to see while I dance. Although it takes energy to dance, yet it is ironical that dance instills energy in me and I feel energized. While I move my body, it automatically occurs to me to life my eyebrows up or curl my lips into a smile that goes perfect with the moves I take. Dance holds value for me as it helps relieve tension and anxiety and alleviates mood. I dance mostly at too situations; one, when I am extremely happy, and the other, when I am extremely sad. When I am happy, it helps me retain the happiness, and when I am sad, it helps me shed away the sadness and forget my sorrows. More importantly, I use dance as a physical exercise. I am too lazy to follow a tough workout routine or to jog every day, so I dance. I play songs at the stereo system and dance on them at least for half an hour every day. It helps me burn calories and restore energy at the same time. It is a wonderful exercise because it does not feel like a liability when you are running or jogging. Doing exercise through dance is actually fun; it is like being in a party and dancing like crazy. While it does burn a lot of calories, one does not feel exhausted or feel like giving up while the exercise is on. The value dance holds for an individual depends to a large extent on how one understands it. Some people are just too dry and serious to understand the value of dance. To them, to dance might be like being a clown. People that enjoy dancing and get benefits out of it like me do place a lot of value in dance. I have been interested in the Indian classical dance since my childhood. That is so different from the conventional western dance. I think Indian classical dance embeds a lot of aspects of the Indian culture. I see a lot of difference in the clas sical dance performed by the Indian men and Indian women. It is, to some extent, an expression of the gender roles in the society. I tried to learn Indian classical dance in a school in my childhood, but it was not as easy as I had presumed it to be. They danced it at Tabla, the popular musical instrument. Being a western, it was very difficult for me to learn the Indian classical dance. I think it takes a fair understanding of a culture to learn the way people of that culture dance. I dance spontaneously depending upon the song. It mostly takes me a fast track to get me in the mood to dance. I have danced on disco and pop songs on the birthday parties of my friends. I have practiced both dancing alone and dancing socially. I am more comfortable dancing alone than dancing socially. The major reason I see behind this is that I have not learnt dance at some institution successfully and thus am not a very good dancer. When I dance socially, I have this feeling that I am being watched b y others. It occurs to me not to dance than dance badly, so I dance very less publicly. However, when everybody is dancing and there is not much watching around, I also do my bit, like at the birthday parties of my friends. When I am in the mood of dancing and I am alone, I tend to make sure that there is nobody else watching. I even draw the curtains of my windows down to make sure that nobody far away gets a glimpse. I dance alone in absolute privacy. When I dance