Montreal-based Pier 21 Asset Management reports that it has opened access to Pier 21 WorldWide Ethical Strategy for Canadian institutional investors.

“More and more, Canadians are embracing ethically-motivated practices in all areas of their lives, from organic grocery shopping to reducing carbon emissions,” notes Pier 21 Asset Management President and CEO David Star. “We expect to see this translate into how Canadian shareholders invest and behave, and the institutional investment marketplace must respond to these evolving demands.”

Other parts of the world are already seeing explosive growth in the ethical or socially responsible investment (SRI) field. In the United States, SRI assets have grown 258% over the last decade, and today, nearly one out of every 10 dollars under professional management there is involved in SRI, according to the Washington, DC-based Social Investment Forum. Canada’s Social Investment Organization estimates that only 2.4% of assets under management in this country are invested according to SRI principles, although this number is on the rise.

Pier 21 WorldWide Ethical Strategy does not require investors to lower their return expectations in exchange for protecting the environment, preserving human rights and rewarding good governance. When compared to a very robust universe of all global equity investment solutions available to Canadian institutional investors, Pier 21 WorldWide Ethical Strategy ranks in the top quartile in terms of annualized performance at the end of 2006 for each of the one through five-year time periods.

“This real-life example contributes to dispelling the myth that an investment solution with ethical constraints cannot add as much value as unconstrained or benchmark-oriented investment strategies,” says Star.

Pier 21 WorldWide Ethical Strategy is sub-advised by Copenhagen-based Carnegie Asset Management, who employs a benchmark-agnostic, trend-based stock picking approach that results in a high-conviction, concentrated portfolio of 25-30 stocks. Carnegie teams up with Global Ethical Standards for incorporating environmental, social and governance analysis into its investment decision making process. In addition, Carnegie also excludes stocks involved in the production or distribution of tobacco, alcohol, gambling, pornography or weapons.

Global Ethical Standards is one of Europe’s leading research houses for responsible investing. Its coverage spans more than 4,000 global stocks, and through its international network, SiRi Company Ltd., it has access to over 100 analysts around the globe.

The Pier 21 WorldWide Ethical Strategy is now available to Canadian institutional investors, exclusively through Pier 21 Asset Management Inc.