Many people are taking another look at where they invest their finances. It’s not enough to know your money will be relatively safe or provide a reasonable potential return over time – it’s also important to know how your money will be used. This increased awareness is one of the reasons we’ve seen significant growth in the ethical investments sector. People want their money to make a positive contribution to society and the environment. The good news is that ethical investments work just as hard as other types of investment to increase your money’s worth, while taking that additional ‘value’ into consideration.
Ethical investments, or socially responsible investments (SRIs), are opportunities for you to put your money into an investment fund that chooses the companies it invests in, very carefully. By carefully, we mean that it chooses companies based on their principles – what they believe in and what they do.
| Account name | Initial fee | Management fee | Minimum deposit | Transfer in |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ecclesiastical Ethical Child ISA | 5.00% | 1.60% | £50 per month or £500 lump | Yes |
- Combines profit with principles for the ethical investor
- EIM ltd been at the forefront of socially responsible investing
- IPad2 Competition – a prize draw to win a IPad2
- Initial fee
Read more about the Ethical Child ISA on the Children’s ISA website
Ecclesiastical Investment Management Limited
Ecclesiastical Investment Management Limited (EIM) is part of the Ecclesiastical Group, a global company with over 175,000 customers and an A- financial rating from Standard & Poor’s. EIM has over £1.9 billion in assets under management
They have been at the forefront of socially responsible investing since March 1988, launching one of the UK’s first retail ethical investment funds (the Amity UK Fund).
Recent proof of their success is winning the Moneyfacts magazine Best Ethical Investment Provider for 2009 and 2010 and the Amity International Fund recently won the prestigious Lipper award 2010 for the best fund over 3 years out of 149 funds. (Global Equity category.)
Their unique approach to screening has helped them deliver profits with principles through a combination of positive and negative screening to its stock selection process and engaging with companies before, during and after investing.
Screening
Ecclesiastical is one of the fund managers that ‘screen’ companies in two ways: they’ll pass a ‘negative screening’ or ‘positive screening’ process.
Negative screening means ignoring companies that work in certain sectors: things like weapons manufacture, tobacco or pornography. Positive screening means including companies that work hard for the benefit of society or the world around us. For example, they may have environmentally friendly programmes in force, or have adopted initiatives that support education or community projects.
Apart from the ethical screening process, ethical investments are the same as any others: they offer varying levels of exposure to risk, potential returns and cover different asset classes.
The Amity International Fund
The Fund’s goal is long term capital growth with a reasonable level of income through a diverse range of international companies. It offers the opportunity to invest in socially responsible screened investments on a global basis, allowing exposure to some of the more rapidly growing regions and the benefit of greater diversification.
The Fund seeks to invest in a portfolio of companies which make a positive contribution to society and the environment through sustainable and socially responsible practices.
For further information, visit the The Children’s ISA website and apply for the the Ethical Child ISA
