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Selecting Socially Responsible Portfolios: A Fuzzy Multicriteria Approach

Author

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  • Fernando García

    (Faculty of Business Administration and Management, Universitat Politècnica de València, 46022 València, Spain)

  • Jairo González-Bueno

    (Faculty of Business Administration, Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana, 681017 Bucaramanga, Colombia)

  • Javier Oliver

    (Faculty of Business Administration and Management, Universitat Politècnica de València, 46022 València, Spain)

  • Nicola Riley

    (Markstones Institute of Marketing, Branding and Technology, Universität Bremen, 28359 Bremen, Germany)

Abstract

We propose a multi-objective approach for portfolio selection, which allows investors to consider not only return and downside risk criteria but also to include environmental, social and governance (ESG) scores in the investment decision-making process. Owing to the uncertain environment of portfolio selection, the return and ESG score of each asset are considered as independent L-R power fuzzy variables. To make the model more realistic, we take budget, floor ceiling and cardinality constraints into account. In order to select the optimal portfolio along the efficient frontier, we apply the Sortino ratio in a credibilistic environment. The subsequent empirical application uses a data set from Bloomberg’s ESG Data in combination with US Dow Jones Industrial Average data. The experimental results show that the proposed model offers promising results for socially responsible investors seeking ethical and sustainability goals beyond the return-risk trade-off and its ability to beat the benchmark.

Suggested Citation

  • Fernando García & Jairo González-Bueno & Javier Oliver & Nicola Riley, 2019. "Selecting Socially Responsible Portfolios: A Fuzzy Multicriteria Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-14, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:9:p:2496-:d:226775
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    4. Silvia Ruiz-Blanco & Silvia Romero & Belen Fernandez-Feijoo, 2022. "Green, blue or black, but washing–What company characteristics determine greenwashing?," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 4024-4045, March.
    5. Panos Xidonas & Eric Essner, 2024. "On ESG Portfolio Construction: A Multi-Objective Optimization Approach," Computational Economics, Springer;Society for Computational Economics, vol. 63(1), pages 21-45, January.
    6. Fernando Gómez-Bezares & Wojciech Przychodzen & Justyna Przychodzen, 2019. "Corporate Sustainability and CEO–Employee Pay Gap—Buster or Booster?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(21), pages 1-15, October.
    7. Razvan Oprisor & Roy Kwon, 2020. "Multi-Period Portfolio Optimization with Investor Views under Regime Switching," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 14(1), pages 1-31, December.
    8. Yin-Yin Huang & Ruey-Chyn Tsaur & Nei-Chin Huang, 2022. "Sustainable Fuzzy Portfolio Selection Concerning Multi-Objective Risk Attitudes in Group Decision," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 10(18), pages 1-15, September.
    9. Fernando García & Jairo González-Bueno & Francisco Guijarro & Javier Oliver, 2020. "Forecasting the Environmental, Social, and Governance Rating of Firms by Using Corporate Financial Performance Variables: A Rough Set Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-18, April.
    10. Yin-Yin Huang & I-Fei Chen & Chien-Liang Chiu & Ruey-Chyn Tsaur, 2021. "Adjustable Security Proportions in the Fuzzy Portfolio Selection under Guaranteed Return Rates," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 9(23), pages 1-18, November.
    11. Magdalena Ziolo & Beata Zofia Filipiak & Iwona Bąk & Katarzyna Cheba & Diana Mihaela Tîrca & Isabel Novo-Corti, 2019. "Finance, Sustainability and Negative Externalities. An Overview of the European Context," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(15), pages 1-35, August.

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