How to invest and be kind to our planet

It’s Good Money Week – an annual event that runs in October each year, and which is designed to help the public make better choices with their banking, pensions, and investments.

Organised by the UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association, and sponsored by Liontrust and Rathbone Greenbank Investments, a priority is conveying the message that choosing ethical providers means your money won’t go to companies funding problems such as modern slavery and the climate crisis.

Investing responsibly

An increasing number of investment funds are managing to make money in ethical ways, and more and more investors are choosing to invest in them.

Latest figures from the Investment Association reveal funds under management with responsible criteria soared £34bn to £89bn in 2021* – that’s a whopping increase of 62%!

Separate research by Fidelity found that 46% of UK adults wanted their cash to make a positive change, while 30% said events of the last year had encouraged them to invest or save more sustainably**.

This increase in focus and choice is great, but with every fund doing something different, it can be hard for investors to know what is what.

That’s why FundCalibre launched its Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) badge earlier this year and has included an ESG assessment on each Elite Rated and Radar fund note.

To keep things simple, each fund has been labelled as either ESG ‘Explicit’, ESG ‘Integrated’ or ESG ‘Limited’.

Examples of responsible funds

Today, we have 14 Rated or Radar funds, investing with explicit ESG criteria. Among them, you’ll find those investing in UK equities, like pioneer Edentree Responsible & Sustainable UK Equity and Janus Henderson UK Responsible Income.

We also have funds investing globally, like LF Montanaro Better World, Rathbone Greenbank Global Sustainability and Ninety One Global Environment.

And, for more cautious investors or those seeking an income, we have fixed interest funds investing responsibly like Rathbone Ethical Bond and Liontrust Sustainable Future Monthly Income Bond.

If you want your investments to make a difference and have a positive impact on the world around you, it’s easy to make the change today.

You can research all these funds here or browse our video and podcast archives and listen to ESG managers talk about their funds and how they invest.

Here is an example, with Neil Goddin, co-manager of the Artemis Positive Future fund, discussing how we can all benefit from a cleaner, greener approach. He also comments on investment opportunities in the US, following the adoption of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 and wraps up using the example of a special climate-adjusted beer, brewed with non-traditional ingredients. Spoiler alert: it didn’t sell very well!

*Source: Investment Association, executive summary, September 2022

**Source: Fidelity, 30 September 2022