Regarding the contribution of socially responsible (SR) screening to mutual fund performance, we propose a new decomposition of the variability of SR mutual fund returns that isolates the contribution of SR screening, allowing it to be compared with other, traditional sources of performance. Our results, based on a sample of SR equity mutual funds, show that SR screening does contribute to the variability of mutual fund performance, together with asset allocation decisions and active management. This contribution is, on average, between 4% and 10%, roughly two times lower than the contribution made by active portfolio choices.
