To celebrate its 30th anniversary, Pax World Funds, manager of the first mutual fund in the United States to use broad-based social and financial criteria for screening purposes, has issued a report that looks at the future for socially responsible investing.

The company asked more than half a dozen futurists to contribute their thoughts about what the world of tomorrow may look like.

The team of futurists forecast the trends for SRI, focusing on information technology, health, recycling and sustainability. Technology-based companies play a major role in socially and environmentally responsible mutual funds, because they tend to have progressive management and limited involvement in manufacturing. The emphasis of socially responsible funds on selecting “software” over “hardware” companies will position them well to participate in the worldwide growth in this sector.

Emphasis on preventive medicine will continue to grow. The avoidance of liquor and tobacco stocks by socially responsible mutual funds positions them well for a future in which consumption of such products will likely decline even further.

Socially responsible mutual funds have an established record of seeking out companies producing healthy lifestyle products, having been quick to understand the future impact of this industry. Consumer choices will continue to fuel this sector, including everything from cage-free poultry products to energy-efficient durable goods.

The “green” orientation of socially responsible mutual funds means that they are likely to grow with the emerging industries of tomorrow that will delay the growing pollution problem. Increased “tipping” fees and stricter environmental regulations will increase operating costs for companies that are not aggressively managing their waste stream. However, corporations that recapture and reuse their waste will benefit from reduced risk of environmental liabilities. These companies are typically sought out by socially and environmentally responsible mutual funds.

Increasingly scarce resources will mean an even greater reliance on sustainability practices by major corporations. The encouragement of such wise-use measures already is a major focus of a number of socially responsible mutual funds. Community development and micro-credit financial institutions will play a major role in these low-income neighborhoods. Socially responsible mutual funds will provide a large percentage of the institutional investment necessary to inject capital into these areas of need, supporting small business, housing, and education.

Pax World Fund has no way to verify or otherwise vouch for the visions of the futurists. However, it does see a value in encouraging discussion and fresh thinking about what will happen in a world in which scarcity and ethics are likely to become even bigger issues than they are today.

The report also found that if current growth levels continue, more than a quarter trillion dollars will be invested in socially responsible funds by 2011. Based on the growth rate of the last 30 years, the total assets of socially responsible mutual funds will rise to $278.1 billion in just ten years. Assets in socially and environmentally responsible funds reached the $100 billion milestone for the first time in mid-2001.

Pax World Funds president Thomas Grant said, “The world of today’s socially responsible mutual funds started in 1971 when no one was sending email, Federal Express and Microsoft were yet to open their doors, a gallon of gasoline cost 36 cents and there were fewer than 200 mutual funds of any kind in existence. From the vantage point of 30 years later, it is apparent that socially and environmentally responsible mutual funds not only are here to stay, but that they are likely to undergo considerable expansion in the coming years. Pax World Funds always has been part of that picture and we will remain so in the future.”