Other companies like Volkswagon and BP have been punished by investors for breaching the public’s trust, and companies known as good having good ethics, have benefited. The pay-off for good companies is supported by growing evidence of higher returns to investment funds that tilt towards good social, environmental and governance practice (ESG).

There is now a strong body of research that compares responsible investing to conventional investing. In perhaps the most comprehensive review of the literature ever undertaken, Deutsche Bank (2012) looked at more than 100 academic studies of sustainable investing around the world, 56 published research studies, 2 literature reviews and 4 meta-analyses. The research found that responsible investment was shown to have a positive impact in 77% of studies, 22% showed no impact, while only 1% had a negative impact.

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