THUMBS UP: Help Your Portfolio, Help the World

Time

Time

If you're like many physicians, youinitially entered medicine as a way tocontribute something positive to theworld. Now, wouldn't it be nice if yourfinancial portfolio could reflect thatsame ideal while still bringing in competitivereturns? It can, according torecent statistics on socially responsibleinvestments (SRIs) reported in a recentmagazine article. SRIs that investin large cap companies brought in anaverage return of 11.99% over thepast 5 years; contrasted by a mere0.61% difference for their regularcounterparts (at 12.60%). And it seemsinvestors have noticed. SRIs grew astaggering 321% between 2000 (at$9.5 billion) and 2005 ($40 billion)according to Morningstar, reports.In that same period, the amount offunds available also expanded from78 to 222 today. What are some ofMorningstar's top 1-year returners?Amana Growth at 24.22%; WinslowGreen Growth at 20.40%; Alger SociallyResponsible Growth Institutional(Share Class I) at 19.78%; Amana Incomeat 19.20%; and Amana SociallyResponsible Growth Institutional (ShareClass R) at 18.93%. Unfortunately,there are no standards for what constitutesan SRI, so be sure to read yourprospectus carefully.