Industry research has found that Australians are increasingly concerned about whether their savings lead to good or harmful outcomes and are receiving higher gains for investing ethically and responsibly. A study (pdf) from the Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA) published on March 9 showed that over four in five Australians (83 percent) expected financial institutions to make ethical and responsible investments with their superannuation and bank savings. It also found that super funds that were not involved in environmental damage, human rights abuses, animal cruelty, weapons, and tobacco were financially outdoing their competitors. In particular, funds embracing responsible investment practices saw their financial performance surpass that of their peers by 87 basis points over one year and 56 basis points over seven years. Ethical investing has entered the mainstream after years of being a niche market, chief customer officer Maria Loyez from management firm Australian Ethical told AAP. However, there …