As Investors Try To Be More Ethical, Some Find No Escape From Businesses They Detest

If you're an investor with ardent social beliefs — and you aspire to put your money where your mouth is — you're in luck. Today, on Wall Street and beyond, socially responsible investment options abound.

For those distressed by gun violence, new weapon-free funds divert dollars from firearms manufacturers and large gun retailers. If climate change is your biggest concern, there are funds that dodge investments in oil and gas giants. And for the staunchest animal advocates on the market, a Vegan Climate Index vows that investor dollars will not, under any circumstances, harm a living creature.

Increasingly, investors are taking pains to align their portfolios with their personal values, and activists are urging financial institutions to divest from companies implicated in poll. This is up 10 percentage points from just two years ago.