Triodos Sustainability Research excludes many companies from potential investment because they don’t meet our minimum standards. There are often predictable outcomes, but sometimes even we are surprised.
Why SRI?
Investing in the stock market, in line with our mission
As the world's leading sustainable bank, should Triodos Bank have any involvement with stock market-listed multinational companies? Some might see it as a compromise of what we stand for. But we strongly believe our SRI activities are a powerful means of promoting our principles and working for greater sustainability, while enabling us to offer customers a wider range of attractive investment options.
A strategy for long term success
Our SRI strategy is based on the belief that, in the long term, the most successful businesses will be those that achieve the best balance between social, environmental and governance factors.
In order to deliver maximum value to shareholders, companies will need to be responsive to the needs and demands of all stakeholders - which means they will face increasing pressure to conduct their business in a way that respects people and planet as much as profit.
So we see SRI as entirely consistent with Triodos Bank's mission to make money work for positive change, provided we observe two key principles.
Total transparency
The first is that we must be completely transparent about how we select listed companies to invest in, to reassure our investors that their money is only being used to support businesses that accept their social and environmental responsibilities, and serve as an example for others. And, of course, we only use money that clients have deliberately chosen to invest in the stock market.
Maximum influence
The second key aspect of our approach to SRI is our total commitment to exerting the strongest possible positive influence on the companies we research and invest in, through active engagement.
The more money our clients entrust to our SRI products, the more pressure we can apply on businesses to improve their sustainability performance. But we believe that, whatever the size of our shareholding, we can use our influence to make a difference. And even a small change in the policy or practices of a major company can make a significant global impact.
Find out more
For more detailed information about our approach to SRI, and the part it plays in Triodos Bank's mission, download our Investment strategy .