The ‘sustainability investment’ phenomenon can be traced back to the beginnings of the corporate social responsibility movement in the United States in the 1930s. But it only really became visible in the 1970s when church and university groups set up funds, such as the Pax World Fund, to avoid investment in any companies which supported the Vietnam War and the Apartheid regime in South Africa. The trend continued to spread and settled into two basic approaches – shareholder activism and screened investments. And surprising though it may seem, evidence is mounting that many sustainability investments actually outperform the market. According to Russell Sparkes, author of the book, The Ethical Investor, there are good reasons for this unexpectedly superior performance of sustainability funds. But the ‘real returns’ of sustainability funds is in directing money towards the fulfilment of social and environmental goals which usually get under-funded in the marketplace.