The move comes just a week or so after US SIF Foundation’s latest biennial survey - the Report on US Sustainable, Responsible and Impact Investing Trends 2014 -  found that SRI assets have expanded 76 per cent in two years: from $3.74 trillion at the start of 2012 to $6.57 trillion at the start of 2014. As a result, assets managed with SRI strategies now account for more than one out of every six dollars under professional management in the US, the organization said.

The PRI initiative - with 1,260 signatories today - is fuelled by a global network of investors and financial industry participants who are committed to integrating environmental, social and governance considerations into their investment practices and ownership policies. The six principles – described as “voluntary and aspirational” - are, as stated on the organization's website, as follows:

1: We will incorporate ESG issues into investment analysis and decision-making processes;
2: We will be active owners and incorporate ESG issues into our ownership policies and practices;
3: We will seek appropriate disclosure on ESG issues by the entities in which we invest;
4: We will promote acceptance and implementation of the principles within the investment industry;
5: We will work together to enhance our effectiveness in implementing the principles; and
6: We will each report on our activities and progress towards implementing the principles.

Recent research by US Trust found that around half of high net worth investors regard social and environmental impact as an important part of investment decision-making, up from 45 per cent in 2013. Of these, six in ten of feel that the way they invest can have a strong influence on society while two-thirds believe that private capital from socially-motivated investors is a way to help hold public companies and governments accountable for their actions and results. Bank of America said it has observed that a component of the growing demand for social impact investing is being driven by the interests of women and Millennials, or Generation Y.

As of September 2014, BoA's investment businesses had over $8.6 billion in assets with a “clearly defined ESG approach,” it said. GWIM's ESG council was formed in 2012 and reports to the bank’s global corporate social responsibility committee, which in turn reports to BoA's chief executive, Brian Moynihan.