Investment strategy that seeks to buy listed companies based on extra-financial factors such as ethics, corporate governance, human rights and the environment. Socially-responsible investment methodologies can exclude entire sectors and companies (tobacco, alcohol, oil, etc) considered unethical, or focus on environmental, social and governance factors (ESG) that serve to identify the "best-in-class".

Over time, micro-credit has developed to offer loans to the poor members of society via a range of products including micro-savings, micro-insurance, money transfer, etc. Micro-finance is the broad term used to cover the entire range of financial products specifically designed for those excluded from the traditional banking system. In broader terms, micro-finance is also used to refer to investment activities in MFI (micro-finance institutions), in the form of small loans via micro-finance funds.