Market facts about socially responsible investing (SRI)

Here is what Wikipedia says about this booming market in Europe and the US:

• Assets in the US of $2.71 trillion in 2007 ($3 trillion estimated for 2011)
• It may around 11% of US assets involved in socially responsible investing
• Assets in Europe €1.6 trillion in 2007
• Government-controlled funding plays a central role
• Socially responsible mutual funds have grown from $12 billion in 1995 to $179 billion
• There are more than $1.9 trillion in socially screened separate account
• $441 billion (2003) are in portfolios controlled by investors
• In a recent 8 year period, the Domini 400 Social Index – a benchmark that measures the impact of social screening on financial performance – returned 18.54% vs. 16.95% for the S&P 500.

More to read: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socially_responsible_investing