EIRIS said that figures as at 31 December 2005 showed £6.1bn had been invested in about a half a million accounts within the 75 existing retail funds. This was up from £1.5bn invested in 137,000 accounts in 1997.

EIRIS’ media and communications manager, Scott McAusland, said the increase in investment went hand-in-hand with the interest in ethical consumerism in general. He added: “People are better informed about the impacts that their spending and investments can have, both positive and negative, and are using this information to invest in accordance with their conscience.”