Responsible investment bodies: what is EIRIS?

EIRIS is one of the responsible investment industry’s leading research providers. An independent not-for-profit, its aim is to provide investors with information on companies and advice on how to integrate environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance into their portfolios.

Its knowledge base covers some 3,000 global companies and over 100 ESG issues, and it has more than 100 institutional clients – including asset managers, pension funds, charities and companies from Europe, Asia and the US.

Its charity – the EIRIS Foundation – is one of the UK’s leading charitable bodies working in the field of responsible investment, providing free, objective and trusted information on ethical finance to members of the public.

“We bring over 28 years of responsible investment experience and combine an understanding of ESG issues with a knowledge of corporate practice and experience of practical solutions”, the organisation says.

We recently published an article by head of communications Mark Robertson, who urged members, investors and companies to make ethical investment bigger and better in 2013 – after research released as part of National Ethical Investment Week last October revealed that almost £11 billion was invested in UK green and ethical retail funds.

EIRIS publishes a range of printed and online resources to help consumers, charities and financial advisers invest responsibly, including YourEthicalMoney.org and CharitySRI.org.

It is a member of the UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association (UKSIF), the European Sustainable Investment Forum (Eurosif), the UN-backed Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) and nine other industry associations.