When taking ethics into account, British investors consider war as their top ethical concern, new research from Friends Provident shows.

Britons investing money are considering ethics more than ever before. According to Julia Dreblow, SRI marketing manager at Friends Provident investing ethically is at an all-time high among consumers.

This research, marking the 21st anniversary of the UK's first ethical fund for individual investors, has shown that the top five ethical concerns for investors are war, provision for the elderly, pollution, human rights and child labour and immigration joint in fifth place.

Campaigners for Make Poverty History would be concerned about world poverty only reaching tenth place in investors' concerns.

Female investors are more concerned about child labour than men are, and male investors worry more about conservation and renewable energies, which didn't make it into women's top ten list.

Smoking and drinking failed to make the index of top 21 ethical concerns for investors, ranking 24 and 26.

Ms Dreblow has said that it is not the average person could make a difference in the world by investing their money in ethical investments .

In the 21 years since Friends Provident launched the first ethical investment fund for retail investors, the ethical investment sector has come of age, she said.

She added that 21 years' evidence shows conclusively that Stewardship Life and Pension ethical funds perform just as well as other funds in their sector.