Ethical investing overview

Arguably, the biggest environmental impact you can have as an individual involves your money. From the cash in your bank to the way you save for your retirement, your financial choices can change the world.

The power to effect positive change through investment choices is well known. Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) investing has been rising significantly as investors realise they can take control of where their money is invested and that by doing

so can help drive the change needed in the way business engages with money across

the globe. We know many of the significant changes need to come from big business and not individuals if we are to address the issue of climate change but we can have a hand in reshaping the priorities of those businesses by being selective about where we put our money.

Your ethical choices

As well as exploring your attitude to risk and your preferred timeline, we also look closely at where your money can be invested to reflect your ethical reviews and beliefs. You aren’t a passive player when it comes to deciding where and how your money is invested, whether it’s your pension or other savings such as stocks and shares ISAs: you can choose to filter out investments that don’t reflect your ethics. Because the investment sums are so vast, this is where you can effect the biggest change.

In addition to excluding investment into sectors that harm the planet (oil miners) or communities (armaments and alcohol producing companies), our ethical portfolios contain investment into sustainable companies that provide a positive impact, and cover specialist themes such as renewable energy.

There has been steady growth in the sector as organisations and individuals recognise the connection between environmental, social and economic acts. Market uncertainty in the pandemic also led more investors to turn to ESG funds for increased resilience. This investor demand has been met with increased action by businesses on ESG issues and as a result we are gradually seeing higher returns.