Church of England sells a share stake on ethical fears
The Church of England yesterday offloaded a share stake with a value approaching £4 million in mining company Vedanta amid concerns about the company's record on human rights. While it is debatable as to whether these concerns are valid there is no doubt that ethical investment is starting to gain a larger profile in the UK. So was the Church of England correct to sell its stake?
The truth is that organisations such as the Church of England have for many years aligned themselves with the human rights of everybody around the world and ethical investment is very much at the heart of their investment strategy. While the sale of a £4 million stake in a FTSE 100 company will have little real impact on the share price, the sale of a sizeable stake in a small company, on ethical grounds, could impact on the share price.
While ethical investment has been around for many years it has only really become a headline grabbing investment strategy over the last few years. Indeed many investors are now looking towards purely ethical funds in which to invest for the short, medium and longer term. Whether we like it or not ethical investment is here to stay and it will have more and more of an impact upon small, medium and large sized companies in the UK.
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