Humane Investing

Animal advocates go to great lengths to ensure that they do not contribute to animal suffering. From a vegan diet to not wearing leather to not buying products tested on animals. But do you know what your investment money is funding? If not, you should.
Socially Responsible Investing Doesn't Always Mean Cruelty-Free Investing

There are many wonderful mutual funds who take great strides in screening out many companies who are not socially responsible. That means that none of the investment money will be spent on those companies. Specific screening criteria vary but some common screens are for alcohol, gambling, environmental standards, workplace conditions, human rights, and community relations. Even consideration of indigenous peoples' rights are common when companies have foreign plants. It's comforting to know that by investing in these mutual funds, we have control so that our money is not going toward activities for which we do not approve.

At first glance these funds seem like the perfect candidates to also have screening for animal rights issues, and many of them do. But, the majority of the time those screens only relate to issues when human health is not in question. For example, many animal rights screens only screen out companies who do cosmetic testing because it is seen as unnecessary for human health, but they do not screen out medical testing because they deem it necessary. If you put your money in such a fund, you are helping to fund medical testing on animals.


What Information is Here? And, What Should I Do With It?

After contacting most of the major Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) mutual funds, most of them did indeed have some loop hole that allowed for some amounts of investments to go toward animal-use companies. So does that mean that animal advocates should boycott those mutual funds? The purpose of this page is to give you the information about what each fund does and does not do in regards to screening for animal rights issues only. For example, if a fund gets a bad review from an animal-issues perspective, it doesn't mean that it's not doing a terrific job screening for human rights issues... and vice versa. Then it's up to you to make your investment decisions.

Finding individual stocks who don't engage in animal-use activities is much easier than finding mutual funds. Though from an investment standpoint, the diversity that you get in a mutual fund is desirable. Both a list of mutual funds and a list of stocks are presented on this site.

Similar to a vegetarian or vegan diet, there are many different definitions amongst people as to how strict they are. Striving to be a "pure" vegan is a goal that could take years to attain, if ever. It's the same with humane investing. Purchasing mutual funds who invest in a miniscule amount of animal-use companies is far better than a mutual fund that is predominantly funding only animal-use companies. Someone might choose to invest in a fund with a small amount of animal-use companies at first, but then strive to seek out stricter funds over time. It's all a matter of personal choice as to what someone is capable of doing. But while making your choice, make sure it's for the right reasons. Socrates says that an unexamined life is not worth living. Examine your motives for making your choices. Remember the individual animals who are currently living a caged, suffering life.


Will I Make A Lot of Money?

No one at Animal Awareness is a qualified financial advisor. As with all stocks, bonds, and mutual funds... there are no guarantees. But also remember that just because something is an ethically humane investment, doesn't necessarily mean that it's a bad investment financially. Some do very well and others do not. We suggest that you contact a financial advisor that you trust. This information is only intended to assist one's investment choices from an ethical and animal rights perspective. Funding worthy companies will help to keep them stable, thus ensuring that cruelty-free investing is more stable for all of us... which in turn ensures that your own investment has more stability.


Find Out More Information

EIRIS (Ethical Investment Research Service) conducts independent research of the pros and cons of the industry covering over 40 different areas including animal testing, military, environmental performance, and human rights. They are not a company who will tell you which companies to invest in because they pride themselves on being an independent research company, but they will provide detailed information that will greatly help your research process.

Many other companies base their decisions by EIRIS's research. You will find an exhausting amount of information about companies that use animals and the trends of those industries. They are not an animal rights organization, but they do state the facts clearly, therefore their research tends to side with the animal advocate agenda. Their area's of research include fur, factory farming, and animal testing (both medical and cosmetic) as well as animal-use in genetic engineering, cloning, and biotechnology.

Read some of the EIRIS research that they have posted in their newsletters (links below). PDF files require the free Acrobat Reader in order to view them.

Factory Farming (PDF)

Cosmetic Testing ban in UK (PDF)

Genetic Engineering (PDF)

Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology - extensive information (PDF)

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