Investors can and do take the environment seriously, says Bermudian Ms Diana Cox.

"They will invest in green funds if they know about them,'' said Ms Cox, a member of the UK-based Jupiter Asset Management's "green'' department. "My objective is to increase public awareness about this area of investment.

But there is a long way to go, said Ms Cox, 34, citing a Guardian newspaper survey of UK financial advisors which said only one percent of the advisors surveyed even ask investors if an ethical stance affects their investment decisions.

Ms Cox last year joined Jupiter's green department which manages two funds that only invest in companies with environmentally sound practices.

"We research companies and ensures they meet certain criteria and we constantly monitor them to make sure they meet a double bottom line; sound environmental practices and sound performance,'' she said. "But it does take time to ensure that a company fits into the portfolios of these unit trusts.

"There are about 250 "green'' companies that Jupiter invests in with about 60 percent located in the UK,'' she said.

The Jupiter Tyndall Group, the parent company of JAM, has a small portion of its $6.7 billion under management invested in green companies, said Ms Cox.

Jupiter's two green funds are the Jupiter Ecology Fund, the first green unit trust launched in the UK, and the Jupiter International Green Investment Trust plc, the first green investment trust in Europe.

Launched in 1988 and 1989, their net asset values are about $23 million and $46 million respectively.

Companies like Iceland Frozen Foods, involved in trials of ozone benign blend of hydrocarbons, paint manufacturer Kalon, UK and European retailer the Kingfisher Group and pharmaceutical company William Ransom, which started making herbal preparations 150 years ago, are among companies that Jupiter funds invest in, said Ms Cox.

Companies that produce cigarettes, pornography or arms do not make the list while others that conduct tests on animals, produce hydro-flourocarbons and chloro-flourocarbons are unacceptable.

Ms Cox, with Jupiter for one year, said working in the green department has successfully blended her concern for the environment with her past Bank of Bermuda investment and trust experience.

Friends of Fish -- whose lobbying led to the moratorium on fish pot use in Bermuda -- and Keep Bermuda Beautiful (KBB) are among the environmental efforts Ms Cox has been associated with.

Ms Cox is the daughter of former MP Mr. William Cox, a retired partner of the law firm of Cox & Wilkinson, and Mrs. Janine Lines.

Her stepfather is former Bank of Bermuda president and CEO Mr. Donald Lines.

Green mutual funds are "definitely a growth area,'' she said.

Many investors could come from the burgeoning membership lists of such environmental organisations as the UK National Trust and Greenpeace, she said.

The former has seen an increase in membership of several hundred percent over the last two decades to morwe than 2 million people while Greenpeace's membership grew from 40,000 in 1981 to 410,000 in 1993.

"These numbers reveal an enormous amount of people who might be sympathetic to green investing,'' she said.

The biggest factor limiting growth is the belief that green funds "under perform,'' said Jupiter fund manager Mr. Simon Baker, head of the company's green department.

Ms Cox agreed that there is a criticism out there that green funds tend not to perform.

"We, as a green fund focus on two areas; those companies whose products and processes assist in the protection of the environment and those companies that take positive steps to reduce their impact on the environment,'' said Mr.

Baker.

"Companies are generally green not from a crusading reason but because it makes commercial sense, from the obvious example of energy saving and reducing electricity bills to avoiding being fined for incorrect disposal of by-products with all the subsequent adverse publicity.

"We have found that companies that are environmentally aware are forward thinking in other areas and have produced profits and earnings growth better than their peer group,'' he said.