Investing with a good conscience: Dreyfus offers a mutual fund that's socially responsible. (Dreyfus Socially Responsible Growth Fund)

If you want to be a politically correct investor, consider the Dreyfus Socially Responsible Growth Fund. You'll be supporting companies that are deemed socially responsible but without scrimping on your investment returns. The $460 million fund has done quite well, posting a one-year growth rate of 36.19% through the end of the first quarter of 1996. This puts it in the top 13% of all growth funds and in the top 6% of all equity funds.

In general, socially responsible mutual finds seek capital appreciation while investing in companies that do not conflict with certain social priorities. For instance, the Dreyfus Socially Responsible Fund avoids campanies that promote such …