The Calvert Social Index is a
stock market index
In finance, a stock index, or stock market index, is an index that measures a stock market, or a subset of the stock market, that helps investors compare current stock price levels with past prices to calculate market performance.
Two of the ...
created by
Calvert Investments
Calvert Research and Management, established in 1976, is an investment management company that is headquartered in Washington, DC, and led by John Streur, the firm's President and Chief Executive Officer. Calvert is one of the largest responsibl ...
as a benchmark of large companies that are considered
socially responsible or
ethical
Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns ma ...
. It currently consists of 680 companies, weighted by
market capitalization
Market capitalization, sometimes referred to as market cap, is the total value of a publicly traded company's outstanding common shares owned by stockholders.
Market capitalization is equal to the market price per common share multiplied by t ...
, selected from approximately 1,000 of the largest publicly traded companies in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
using Calvert's social criteria. These criteria relate to the
environment
Environment most often refers to:
__NOTOC__
* Natural environment, all living and non-living things occurring naturally
* Biophysical environment, the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism or ...
,
workplace issues,
product safety
Product may refer to:
Business
* Product (business), an item that serves as a solution to a specific consumer problem.
* Product (project management), a deliverable or set of deliverables that contribute to a business solution
Mathematics
* Prod ...
, community relations,
weapons contracting, international operations, and
human rights
Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...
.
This index was created following the success of the
Domini 400 Social Index by KLD Research & Analytics, Inc. The Calvert index is used by many so-called socially responsible
mutual funds
A mutual fund is a professionally managed investment fund that pools money from many investors to purchase securities. The term is typically used in the United States, Canada, and India, while similar structures across the globe include the SICAV i ...
as a benchmark for their performance.
See also
*
FTSE4Good Index
The FTSE4Good Index Series is a series of ethical investment stock market indices launched in 2001 by the FTSE Group which reports on the performance of companies which demonstrate "strong Environmental, Social and Governance practices". A numbe ...
*
MSCI KLD 400 Social Index The MSCI KLD 400 Social Index was launched in 1990 and is designed to help socially conscious investors weigh social and environmental factors in their investment choices.
It was founded by KLD's Amy Domini as the Domini 400 Social Index.
The MS ...
References
External links
Calvert Investments: The Calvert Social IndexGreenBiz: Calvert Social Index
American stock market indices
Ethical investment stock market indices
Economy and the environment
{{stockexchange-stub