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The first problem with labeling a particular style of investing "socially responsible" is that it suggests that other kinds of investing are not. So it's no wonder many people find the concept silly or offensive.

At some level, after all, our very economic system is socially problematic. The benefits accrue disproportionately to owners (investors, this means you), who make fortunes off the labor of rank-and-file employees. Luck plays a role, as does timing. Education, connections, and money give some people an edge, and hard work doesn't always carry the day. The key to increasing profit and wealth is improving productivity, and an owner's glee at producing the same amount with 50 workers as with 100 is not often shared by those who got canned. If you're going to invest in any free-market enterprise, you're going to have to accept that no matter how enlightened your choices, your money will be supporting wealth disparity, inequality, and other arguably unfair conditions that go hand in hand with a successful free-market economy.

But relationships that seem causal and permanent in one market era often vanish in the next, taking many "superior investment strategies" down with them. Today's markets are also annoyingly efficient. The more studies that demonstrate that socially responsible stocks do better than regular stocks, the more investors will rush to buy them (and not just for "the greater good"). The resulting torrent of money flowing into the stocks will drive up their prices, and the higher prices will pave the way for subpar future returns.

...One implication of this argument-invest sustainably, and you'll make a killing-is just dreaming. Even if the markets do soon "place a much higher value" on responsible companies, this won't provide superior returns over the long term; rather, it will provide a pleasant short-term bump. Once stock prices have adjusted, the opportunity will evaporate. Investment decisions, moreover, will still be only one factor in changing corporate behavior. Regulatory practices and consumer buying choices will always play the most direct role in persuading companies to behave responsibly.