Healthy Investments in Investing in Health

Abstract

This article discusses socially responsible investing (SRI) and tobacco. SRI allows investors, both institutional and individual, to express their concerns and make their social and ethical stands known to the companies they invest in and patronize. The tobacco industry is active in every country on the globe and generates huge profits, while tobacco use is responsible for 4 million deaths every year.

The authors explore past and current views on investment in tobacco, partly based on a survey conducted by the Tobacco Free Initiative of the World Health Organization (WHO). There is clearly a trend toward divestment from tobacco for both ethical and financial reasons. Tobacco-free investments can be both ethically sound and financially profitable.