Can Socially Responsible Investing reduce portfolio risk?

Responsible Investing (RI) aka Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) incorporates environmental, social and corporate governance criteria into the selection of investments.For some, these constraints mean that  portfolio construction is limited, opportunities lost and risk increased.But a May , 2015 study suggests that RI provides a number of potential advantages including strong financial returns,reduced risk , and more downside protection than traditional mutual fund incvestments.RI mutual funds and venture capital funds now total $17.5 billion . The paper  Canadian Responsible Investment mutual funds : Risk?Return Characteristics Study Findings  can be read here  It should be noted that not everyone agrees with the screening criteria. For example, those who survived the horrors of WWII do not necesarrily agree that investments in weapons manufaxturers like Lockheed Martin are necessarily undesirable. To them , it means the ability to defend our democracy and freedom .