Australian Ethical Investments has announced plans to invest in ethically dubious energy firms with the aim of changing their business practices through shareholder activism. The Climate Advocacy Fund (CAF), launched today, will invest in big polluters with the aim of using shareholder influence to encourage firms to green themselves up. Companies will urged to rethink [...]
The Co-operative Financial Services and Ecclesiastical Investment Management were named yesterday as sponsors of the third annual National Ethical Investment Week (NEIW). NEIW 2010, on 7-13 November, is a series of events and other activities across the UK to raise awareness of green and ethical investment options. UKSIF, the sustainable investment association behind NEIW, said [...]
The small number of ethical funds with investments in BP are considering pulling out of the beleaguered oil supplier – two months after the biggest oil spill in history began on BP’s watch. BP is a ‘light green’ company, meaning ethical investors buy shares in the firm to encourage it, as shareholders, to behave in [...]
Ethical investors looking to put money into emerging market economies should avoid China, Egypt and Vietnam, the Ethical Investment Research Service (Eiris) has claimed. Research by the group found these three countries to be the worst performers in terms of Environmental, Social, and Governance indicators. The three best-performing emerging market countries were South Korea, Brazil, [...]
Islamic finance is set to grow at double the pace of the conventional banking sector, Singapore’s finance minister has claimed. Lim Hung Kiang said he expects the sector to break through the $1 trillion mark in total assets by the end of 2010. Speaking yesterday at the World Islamic Banking Conference Asia Summit in Singapore, [...]
At least ten self-proclaimed “ethical” funds hold shares in BP despite the oil producer’s pivotal role in the worst oil spill in history. The ethical investment funds holding BP in their portfolio include SWIP Pan-European SRI Equity, SWIP Global SRI, Real Life A, Church of England Investment, COIF Charities Investment, Aberdeen Responsible UK Equity, Marlborough [...]
Since the financial crisis city bankers, fund managers and financial advisers have become more aware than ever before of green and ethical investment options. Recent research by F&C Investments found 73% of investors would consider taking advantage of an ethical investment trust if one became available. According to the UK sustainable investment and finance association [...]
Ethical investors in Wales are being given the opportunity to invest in an organic market garden. The 10-acre site will supply fresh produce – including vegetables, salads, and fruit – for Cardiff’s Riverside Market and a vegetable box scheme. The social enterprise will have an estimated turnover of £170,000 and will provide enough vegetables to [...]
Nearly three quarters (72%) of charity workers believe their pension should be invested ethically. Research by the Pensions Trust found charity workers rate ethical investment as one of the most important attributes for their pension scheme. Other pension attributes rated important by charity workers included value at retirement and company engagement with shareholders. Seven in [...]
New Zealand MPs are set to vote on a bill that would ensure government funds are ethically invested. The bill, sponsored by MP Grant Robertson, would mean the government could only invest in socially and environmentally responsible companies. “I believe that New Zealanders want [government] investments to be ethically sound,” Robertson said. “What this Bill [...]
Social enterprises are underfunded because they lack access to capital, according to a new report launched this week in Australia. The Financing Social Enterprise report, researched by Foresters Community Finance, said social enterprises are often unable to access finance from mainstream lending institutions. “The greatest challenge for emerging social businesses is their lack of access [...]
A new social enterprise is looking to transform redundant Victorian river weirs into hydroelectric turbines. H2oPE is installing the turbines at two locations in northern England, and is looking for small-scale investors to back the new schemes. Investors can buy shares in a particular turbine for just £1 each, with a minimum purchase of 250 [...]
Charities should ensure their investments and pension schemes match up to their ideals by putting their money into an ethical fund, an ethical financial adviser claimed yesterday. Barchester Green Investment (BGI) made the comment as it begins working with two leading social enterprises, SEDEX and World Development Movement, on designing and selecting ethical pension schemes [...]
Norway’s government pension fund can no longer be invested in tobacco companies under new guidelines introduced by the country’s Ministry of Finance. “Production of tobacco has been introduced as a new criterion for exclusion, and we have already followed up the Council on Ethics’ recommendations to sell our holdings in tobacco producing companies,” said finance [...]
Faith communities need to do more to understand the environmental and social consequences of the financial markets, according to church leaders in Scotland. Rev Ian Galloway, convenor of the Church of Scotland’s Church and Society Council, said: “Communities of faith need to consider the social and environmental impacts of our financial system.” He added that [...]
The finance arm of the Church of England has said it will withdraw its £2.5 million investment from Vedanta, an India-based mining project, over concerns about human rights abuses by the company. In a statement released Friday, the church said Vedanta has not done enough to improve its respect for human rights. Campaigners who believe [...]
Socially responsible investments marginally outperformed the standard market over the past decade, new research has revealed. Jantzi, a Toronto-based environmental and social responsibility research firm, said its Jantzi Social Index (JSI), made up of green and ethical companies, produced an average annual return of 5.68% between 2000 and 2009. This is compared to an average [...]
John Wesley, the 18th century founder of the Methodist Church, was one of the first people to champion ethical investments, it has been revealed. Wesley’s investment motto, which he declared in a sermon more than 200 years ago, was to ” Gain all we can without hurting our neighbour.” Wesley urged investors to avoid putting [...]
Only half of Brits would be interested in finding out the ethical credentials of the next financial product they purchase, new research has discovered. The EIRIS (Experts in Responsible Investment Solutions)-commissioned poll found that just 44% of the British public are curious to know whether or not their money is being invested ethically. Of these, [...]
More than two thirds of the British public consider their outlook on life to be either very or fairly green and ethical, new research has discovered. The YouGov poll, conducted on behalf of National Ethical Investment Week (NEIW), also found that nearly half (49%) of people with savings and investments would like to use their [...]
Gender directive could slash men’s annuity payouts
The EU Gender Directive, which came into force today, could see men losing up to £10,000 from their annuity payouts, according to research by PricewaterhouseCoopers. Under the new rules insurers are no longer allowed to take gender into account when setting annuity rates and premiums on insurance products. Men previously enjoyed higher annuity rates than [...]
Home rental costs down in November
The cost of renting a house in England and Wales fell by 0.4 per cent in November, its first dip since March, according to a survey by LSL Property Services. Average rent was £741m during the month, returning to the level seen in September. However, it was 3.4 per higher than in November last year. [...]
Lloyds TSB halts sale of packaged accounts in branches
Lloyds TSB will stop selling packaged account in its branches from 1 January 2013, until its sales procedures are brought into line with those operated by sister bank The Halifax. Lloyds TSB is one of the main providers of packaged accounts in Britain, with around one in three of its customers choosing to pay fees [...]
Housing market recovery to continue next year
Recent improvements in the housing market should continue into next year, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) Gross lending is estimated to have increased to £12.9 billion in November, helped by the Funding for Lending scheme which provides banks and building societies with lower-cost funding, which they are then supposed to pass on [...]
Newcastle Building Society exits interest-only mortgages
Newcastle Building Society has stopped offering interest-only mortgages to new borrowers, following the lead of the Royal Bank of Scotland, Nationwide, Co-operative bank and Coventry Building Society. The decision will not affect existing Newcastle customers and applications for interest-only mortgages received before 14 December will still be processed. Prior to the credit crunch, interest-only mortgages [...]
Less than half of Brits considered creditworthy
Fifty-seven per cent of UK adults are at risk of having an application for credit turned down by a mainstream lender according to a new report. The ‘Mind the Credit Gap‘ report commissioned by aqua credit cards suggests that even people with a good credit rating and earning more than £50,000 could have a credit [...]
Monthly incomes £22 lower in 2012
The average monthly income of UK households fell by £22 in real terms compared with last year, according to a survey carried out for the Bank of England (BoE) by NMG Consulting. People on lower incomes have seen their income eroded more than higher earners and households still have high levels of debt the BoE [...]
Savers dig deep to fund Christmas
New research from the Halifax suggests that savers are funding their Christmas spending with money set aside for other purposes. Thirty-seven per cent of 2,138 savers surveyed by the bank at the end of November had withdrawn savings in the last three months. The average amount withdrawn was £1,186, more than double the average savings [...]
Financial data at risk from unsafe passwords
According to a survey by the Payments Council the problem of having to remember a different password for several accounts means that many internet users are compromising the security of their financial data. Internet users have 22 password-protected accounts on average and many use the same log-in details for more than one account, even though [...]
Wonga launches Paylater loans on retailer website
Payday loan company Wonga has launched a new Paylater service on furniture firm Cotswold Company’s website. The service, which allows customers to “buy now, pay later” will be introduced on other retailers’ sites in the near future. Although the Paylater branding is similar to Wonga’s, the Wonga name only appears in the small print. A [...]
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