Numerous environmental problems, the consequences of the financial crisis, the aggravation of social issues (such as poverty, unemployment, other consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic etc) cause the need for the evolution of financial instruments in the field of investment. The main requirement is a reasonable investment, which involves focusing not only on financial benefits but also to promote social, environmental and economic (or sustainable) development. This work is devoted to the use of structural and functional approach to the identification of responsible investment. This allows us to consider such an investment concept as a complex system formed of interconnected functional elements. To do this, the author conducted a study of the essence of responsible investing and its main criteria. These primarily include consideration of various environmental, social and managerial factors (ESG-factors) in making management decisions. The next step is to analyze the approaches of domestic and foreign scientists to determine the main forms of responsible investment. Based on this, the stage formation of the concept of responsible investing is formed in the work. At the initial stage, there is the use of various forms of responsible investing, depending on the purpose of investors and the period time: ethical, green, thematic, impact investing. In the second stage, the idea of socially responsible investment was developed, and later - sustainable investment. The final stage is the allocation of responsible investment as a separate integrated concept that meets modern requirements. To better understand the distinction between certain forms of responsible investment in the work, their gradation depending on the orientation on financial or social goals has been studied. The study is theoretical and involved the use of general scientific methods: structural and functional approach, analysis and synthesis, grouping and logical generalization. The provisions formed in the article allow forming a theoretical basis within the research, which will be used for further work in this direction.

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