Aren Colleges and Universities, as charities, legally prohibited from investing ethically?
Trustees are obligated to pursue the best interests of the Charity – but this specifically does not exclude Ethical Investment. In fact, Charity Commission regulations (2001) state, “trustees of a charity should decline to invest in a particular company if it carries out activities which are directly contrary to the charity’s purposes.” Amongst other precedents from law and government recommendations, the Goode Committee on Pension Law Reform concluded “Trustees…are perfectly entitled to have a policy on ethical investment and pursue that policy.
