Is it moral to invest in all shares and funds?

[mlod54]

I have some money invested in global growth funds and am looking to invest some more money. But I was wondering whether or not it is ethical for a vegan to invest in companies that may produce non-vegan products. Am I contributing towards the problem of animal suffering if I do so? Or is it not as much of an issue as what I buy and eat?

 

[beancounter]

Think of it this way. The money you are investing into a fund or a stock does NOT go into the pockets of the companies in question.

By the time the average investor purchases a stock or fund, it has been bought and sold many times over, and the company that originally issued it, no longer receives any benefit from the (re) sale of the stock or fund.

The only time a company directly benefits from a stock sale is during an IPO (Initial Public Offering),

 

[mlod54]

Think of it this way. The money you are investing into a fund or a stock does NOT go into the pockets of the companies in question.

By the time the average investor purchases a stock or fund, it has been bought and sold many times over, and the company that originally issued it, no longer receives any benefit from the (re) sale of the stock or fund.

The only time a company directly benefits from a stock sale is during an IPO (Initial Public Offering),

That's interesting. Does this mean that there is no benefit to buying "ethical" shares or funds? I suppose at the end of the day any money I spend goes on vegan products so if it's a case of me buying the shares that provide the best return rather than a meat eater buying them, perhaps it could be argued that I'm not helping the cause of veganism by investing in "ethical" shares that might not do as well.

 

[beancounter]

That's interesting. Does this mean that there is no benefit to buying "ethical" shares or funds? I suppose at the end of the day any money I spend goes on vegan products so if it's a case of me buying the shares that provide the best return rather than a meat eater buying them, perhaps it could be argued that I'm not helping the cause of veganism by investing in "ethical" shares that might not do as well.

Well, theoretically, if enough people refuse to trade a stock, the price of the stock will decrease (because supply exceeds demand), and the shareholders will be unhappy at the decrease in value, and force the BOD and Executives to make changes that will bring the value of the stock back up.

But, honestly, I've never seen that happen in practice.

 

[Lou]

I have invested in "ethical" mutual funds. No oil or coal. No guns. Renewable energy. that kind of thing. It was doing very badly like 10 years ago and I un-invested for a more traditional fund. but then it did well again and I re-invested in it. Its doing very well. If you want I can look up its name.

 

[beancounter]

Yes, such funds have traditionally underperformed the market average.

And this is (likely) retirement savings the OP is referring to.

If that's the case, then maximizing the ROI (getting the most you can for your retirement) should be the priority.

 

[Jamie in Chile]

Think of it this way. The money you are investing into a fund or a stock does NOT go into the pockets of the companies in question.

By the time the average investor purchases a stock or fund, it has been bought and sold many times over, and the company that originally issued it, no longer receives any benefit from the (re) sale of the stock or fund.

The only time a company directly benefits from a stock sale is during an IPO (Initial Public Offering),

I suspect this is probably wrong or oversimplified although I imagine it's quite complicated and I doubt we'll be able to debate and solve this right now.

I think there is a complex supply-demand relationship where the impact of what you buy could be zero, reduced, or significant but I think on the whole there probably is some effect on average.

If people don't buy funds because they contain investments in x the funds are at least some of the time going to realize and get rid of x, driving down the value of x, and causing companies that sell x to do worse.

 

[Jamie in Chile]

I've never seen a good vegan fund. A fully vegan fund is hard to find.

You can look at the list of top companies in a fund you are considering investing in and make sure none are involved in factory farming. The majority of funds don't seem to include them.

One thing that may help animals is not to invest in funds containing fossil fuel companies, which are causing species extinctions and destruction of natural habitat through climate change. Look out for Shell, BP, Exxon etc and avoid these.

I am in the three funds below which are ethical funds to a large extent, although they mostly invest in mainstream capitalist companies, but avoid ones that are in the kinds of categories you might think of us unethical.

The first two have grown since I invested. The last one, Impax, has grown the most and easily beaten the stock market average. It's grown about 60% in about 2 years.

Landlord Account M&G Positive Impact Fund I Acc (Shares)

FP WHEB Sustainability Fund Class C Acc

Impax Environmental Markets

 

[silva]

I'm buying individual share of a vegan stock I have hopes for --nothing I can't afford to lose of course, probably sit on it for a few years.
Buy when it's down, sell when it's high