Sorting mutual funds with respect to process-oriented social responsibility: A FLOWSORT application

Abstract

We establish a robust FLOWSORT-based tool to sort mutual funds with respect to process-oriented social responsibility and recommend the use of limiting profiles with open classes. The tool provides an alternative for the limited dichotomous classification of funds, i.e. socially responsible investing (SRI) versus conventional funds. By allowing for more heterogeneity in social responsibility the sorting tool is promising for scholars to improve fund performance measurements, and useful for governments to better regulate the supply of SRI products.

Keywords

• FLOWSORT; Multi-criteria decision analysis; Socially responsible investing