Evaluating the Performance of Norwegian Socially Responsible Investment Funds

Abstract

This study investigates the financial performance of Norwegian SRI mutual funds over the time period January 2010 - December 2017. The study is performed by comparing 32 SRI funds to 42 conventional funds with similar characteristics, as well as an index benchmark. Both a matching pair analysis of 11 SRI funds and 11 conventional funds and an analysis of the full fund sample at aggregated level, are performed. The findings show a pattern of SRI funds outperforming conventional funds. However, small performance gaps and few statistically significant results lead to the conclusion that there are no significant differences between the performance of SRI funds and conventional funds. The study further extends previous research by evaluating fund performance over two sub-periods: (I) 2010-2013 and (II) 2014-2017, finding no significant differences in performance of SRI funds over the two periods.