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The purpose of this paper is to examine the price level and volatility impacts of oil prices on energy mutual funds (EMFs). The authors also examine specific fund characteristics which might influence those interactions.

The authors test for volatility transmission between the oil prices and the funds in the sample. Later, the authors test to see which fund characteristics impact these volatility interactions.

The results show oil price movements lead majority of sample EMFs. The authors also find a volatility feedback relationship with most of the sample. Furthermore, the authors show the fund characteristics to be important indicators of these interactions. Morningstar rating, market capitalization and management tenure are found to be significant drivers of the relationships between EMFs and oil prices.

To the knowledge, there is not a study in literature which examines these relationships.

Although there are theoretical costs and benefits to corporate diversification, there is ample empirical evidence that the stock market views the costs to outweigh the benefits (Lang and Stulz (1994), Berger and Ofek (1995), Servaes (1996), etc.) These studies are cross‐sectional studies which compare diversified firms to specialized firms and examine valuation multiples. The studies find that diversified firms have lower valuation multiples than specialized firms. This is called the diversification discount. In this paper, a sample of U.S. firms which are specialized and then become diversified are examined. We do not find evidence of a long‐term reduction in firm value associated with diversification.

This paper updates the literature regarding the performance of constrained US mutual funds by looking at the relative performance of Christian mutual funds, socially responsible funds and Islamic funds. This paper aims to rank the performance of religious and ethical investment funds.

This study uses monthly returns from 2005 to 2015 to perform traditional asset pricing models as well as data envelopment analysis to determine rank.

Islamic mutual funds outperform socially responsible funds, which then outperform Christian-based mutual funds; these results are also consistent during the latest 2007-2008 crisis period. The results are robust to different performance metrics and benchmarks. Moreover, this paper reports a significant amount of money “left on the table” by investing in constraint funds and disregarding the sin industry which shows an ethical dilemma for investors.

Investors who seek to invest morally/ethically can be informed of the cost of doing so. They can also compare portfolio with others that have similar holdings and constraints.

This paper not only includes Christian mutual funds in the research but also provides the performance of all constrained assets. It also compares religious funds with “SIN” industry, and thus quantifies the cost of “doing right.”

The growing prevalence of social entrepreneurship has been coupled with an increasing number of so-called “impact investors”. However, much remains to be learned about this nascent class of investors. To address the dearth of scholarly attention to impact investing, this study seeks to answer four questions that are central to understanding the phenomenon. What are the defining characteristics of impact investing? Do impact investors differ from traditional classes of investors and, if so, how? What are the motivations that drive impact investment? And, what criteria do impact investors use when evaluating potential investments?

A partially inductive study based on semi-structured interviews with 31 investors and ethnographic observation was conducted to explore how impact investors differ from other classes of investors in their motivations and unique criteria used to evaluate ventures seeking investment.

This study reveals that impact investors represent a unique class of investors that differs from socially responsible investing, from other types of for-profit investors, such as venture capitalists and angel investors, and from traditional philanthropists. The varied motivations of impact investors and the criteria they use to evaluate investments are identified.

Despite the growing practitioner and media attention to impact investing, several foundational issues remain unaddressed. This study takes the first steps toward shedding light on this new realm of early-stage venture investing and clarifying its role in larger efforts of social responsibility.

To attract funding from ethical investment trusts, it is expected that investee companies will need to undertake corporate social disclosure (CSD) in annual reports. This paper first explores the notion that companies included within the portfolio of ethical investment trusts (ETIs), are likely to provide a greater quantity of CSD than companies in which ethical trusts have not invested (NETIs). Second, the paper examines the characteristics of companies that undertake CSD, and their relationship to the ETI/NETI classification. Results from the examination of a sample of 300 Australian annual reports for 147 companies over a five‐year period (1990–1994), indicate that CSD is related to size, industry visibility, and company presence in both foreign countries and foreign stock exchanges. The significance of this paper, in addition to building upon empirical research into CSD, is that, in a range of circumstances, companies with an ethical investor as a shareholder, provide greater transparency about their social and environmental activities, than companies without an ethical investor. As a result, case can be made for the direct regulation and monitoring of ETI companies to be reduced, relative to NETIs, given that ethical investment may fulfil a market based regulatory function.

Emphasizes that although electronic commerce continues to grow, with it come many problems including the worry of security over the Internet. Presents a systematic approach to developing and continuously improving Web security systems — allowing for enterprise‐wide controls regarding security risks. Goes into much detail regarding systems, security and design.

Socially responsible investment (SRI) is a niche and upcoming investment strategy in India. Very few researches have been conducted on SRI in the Indian context. This study identifies the SRI awareness level, attitude towards the importance of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues, willingness to invest in SRI avenues and obstacles in SRI investment decision-making by Indian retail investors. The second objective was among the awareness, attitude, willingness, obstacle, and demographic constructs to identify the most significant variables that impact an individual investor's SRI decision in India. .

Data for the study have been collected through a self-structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics are used to identify the importance of variables for individual investors. This paper used the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to understand the factors impacting individual investors' SRI behavior. Binary logistics regression analysis is used to recognize the variables that affect an individual investor's SRI decision.

The descriptive statistics indicate a low level of SRI awareness; the majority of the investors agreed that ESG issues are significant in investing and showed a willingness to invest in SRI avenues. However, the investors were not willing to accept lower returns from SRI. The majority of investors found, lower returns on SRIs, no tax benefit, lack of information about SRIs, and low liquidity as important obstacles in SRI investing. Binary logistics regression results indicated that awareness about SR/ESG indices, awareness about SR/ESG funds, and willingness to invest in SRI avenues significantly impact investors' SRI decisions but demographic variables have no significant impact on SRI decision-making.

This study has implications for the ethical/SR mutual funds managers, policymakers, government, and international asset management companies. The study finds an urgent need for increasing awareness about SRI among individual investors in India. The study suggests that the issuers must provide adequate information about SRI avenues and probable risk and returns involved in these, while the regulators must make efforts to educate investors in India.

The context of the present study is original because hardly any of the earlier studies conducted in India have tried to find out the individual investors' SRI awareness level, investors' willingness towards SRI, investors' attitude towards ESG issues, and obstacles faced by investors in socially responsible investing.