Growth in sustainable and ethical investment is set to accelerate this year after research revealed that 13 per cent of investors are likely to go green with their ISA allowance, says
The Co-operative Investments
The potential for a double-digit share of the
ISA market follows a decade that has seen ethical investment grow almost two and a half times and, says the Co-operative, confirms it is no longer seen as an area of investment just for the principled.
The 13 per cent who said thy would “go green” with their ISAs stand in contrast to the current ethical share of UK assets under management, which currently stands at only 1 per cent.
Since 1999, money held in ethical investments has increased from £2.8bn to £6.8bn. While overall ethical finance – which includes banking, credit unions as well as investments – has almost tripled from £5.1bn to £14.4bn.
Co-operative Investments says further evidence that mainstream investors are switching on to the opportunities is provided by the success of a new sustainable fund launched by The Co-operative Investments last year.
Since its launch in July, the fund quickly reached the top half of the IMA Cautious Managed Sector by size (the total value of assets under management) - overtaking many of the more established funds in what was one of last year’s most popular sectors to invest.
The Co-operative Investments offers three actively-managed sustainable funds, all of which take a sustainable approach to investing and are designed to meet the varying attitudes to risk of investors.
The funds focus on eight key themes: Healthcare, climate change, global power shortage, technology, global infrastructure, urban regeneration, sustainability and emerging markets.
The funds are:
- Sustainable Leaders – A balanced fund that looks to provide investors with long-term capital growth by investing in high quality companies mainly based in the UK.
- Sustainable Diversified – A cautious fund that aims to provide investors with long-term capital growth by investing in a mix of investments including equities, corporate bonds, government bonds, property and cash. It is actively managed in order to achieve a balance between growth and risk.
- Sustainable World – A balanced fund with the remit to invest in companies worldwide. It offers long-term capital growth by investing in high quality equities, corporate bonds, government bonds and cash.
“These findings confirm that sustainable investment in particular is increasingly being seen as an attractive place to invest for a broader number of people,” said Rod Bulmer, Managing Director, Retail, at The Co-operative Financial Services (CFS)
“Sustainable investment is not a niche for ethically-minded consumers. It offers a fantastic chance to grow investors’ money over the long-term by exploiting the investment opportunities from major changes occurring throughout the world.
“The need to tackle issues such as ageing populations, climate change and global power shortage are fundamental in global society, and will create investment opportunities for some time to come.”
