Lifestyle
Move your money
1,506 people have taken this step
What
Money makes the world go around. But what if you could make sure your hard-earned dosh was turning the world into a better place… rather than the opposite?
By moving your pension, savings, investments and current account to ethical funds and providers, you can invest in our society and environment - all the while getting the financial returns you deserve.
Benefits
For people
Just like investment portfolios built on fossil fuels, it has long been socially acceptable to invest in socially unethical companies. Weird eh? Just so you know, socially unethical can and does include anything and everything from gambling and pornography, to tobacco and weapons.
These days, most ‘ethical’ funds and banks will guarantee that your pounds and pennies aren’t helping companies that contribute to the destabilisation or harm of our society. With investing, these are commonly known as ESGs - which means they meet certain Environmental, Social and Governance standards. But again, socially responsible investing principles aren’t always the default option - it’s always worth double checking where your money is going.
Remember the money in your savings and current account is being leveraged by your bank to lend out as well.
As with environmental investments, you can go beyond divesting from unethical funds to actively seeking out funds that positively impact society by investing in, for example, charities, education and healthcare.
For planet
As you know, burning fossil fuels like oil and coal creates greenhouse gases. These destabilise our climate and threaten our future. There are plenty of clean energy sources available, and the sooner they replace fossil fuels, the more likely we are to avoid climate catastrophe.
To speed up this transition (and we really don’t have any time to waste), there is a global movement for investors of all shapes and sizes to stop funding fossil fuel companies. This is known as divestment.
For a long time, fossil fuel investments were the backbone of many, if not most, portfolios - including pension funds. These days, although it’s easier to avoid investing in fossil fuels, it still requires an active choice rather than being the default option.
If you want to double down on your positive impact, switch to a pension, bank account, portfolio or fund that’s divested from fossil fuels and is actively investing in renewables instead of fossil fuels. And rest assured, you’ll be in good company: there are more and more institutions dumping their fossil fuel funds in favour of cleaner alternatives.
How
Moving your money can feel like a big task so the best approach is to break it down into manageable chunks.
Unless you’re already a finance whizz, the first step is probably to educate yourself a bit about what you’re currently investing in and who you're banking with, and what you’d like to move to. There’s loads of help and inspiration available online - three of our faves are MotherTree's green money calculator, Good with Money and the Ethical Consumer.
We’ve listed a few of the main opportunities for moving your money below...
Change your bank
Check you’re happy with your bank’s ethical performance by doing a bit of investigation. You could ask them about their responsible banking policy, or find out how they rank in independent research.
The highest ranking banks based on ethics and climate impact currently include: Triodos Bank UK, Nationwide Building Society (and most other building societies), Co-op and Starling.
Check your pension
Check who your pension is with, and what funds they have on offer. Many have ‘green’ or ‘ethical’ funds available, but your pension probably won’t be in them by default. And then dig a bit deeper to see if you’re happy with what they can offer - when it comes to it, there are many shades of green - and then make the switch.
Here are a few alternatives to get you started: Royal London Exchange, Aviva, Nutmeg and Nest.
Invest your savings
If you have money you’d like to invest ethically outside of a pension, there are lots of opportunities to make sure your money is working for the greater good.
Obviously, we can’t give financial advice… but we can recommend EQ Investors and Tribe Impact Capital as great financial planners and wealth managers who really know their stuff when it comes to investing for a positive impact.
Triodos also offer Impact Investment Funds that invest in a range of stock market listed companies that have a positive impact on society and the environment.
If you want to go it alone (or already have an advisor you’re happy with), then check out Triodos Crowdfunding, Abundance, and Ethex for ethical investment opportunities.
Done all that?
Use your voice to influence the businesses around you. If you're an employee, start with your employer - ask them where they bank and hold your pensions with.
Make My Money Matter have lots of resources to help you make a compelling case for switching.
