We’re in a world where living sustainably and minimising our impact on the environment is more important than ever. This doesn’t just mean switching up our coffee cups or opting for an electric car next time you trade up. We’re also taking a greater interest in ways in which we can invest sustainably and make a positive impact without sacrificing investment returns.
For many investors, that entails using investment platforms that offer shares, funds and portfolios that make it easier to invest in line with your principles. So, let’s use our free Compare+Invest simple investment comparison tool to find some of the best platforms for making sustainable investments.
What to look for
Investments
Responsible investors pay particular attention to a company’s record on things like environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues which can help measure just how responsible or sustainable a company is. But this covers a very wide area, so you need to be comfortable with the investments and portfolios that are on offer. For example, while some are concerned with ensuring certain types of companies are excluded, others focus more on companies or sectors that have a positive impact. So, check if the platform you’re looking at explains the types of companies and sectors its funds and portfolios invest in and – just as importantly – the areas it does not invest in.
Cost
Different firms manage their investment funds in different ways, which results in differing costs. The same is true for sustainable funds: some are very straightforward and low cost but in other cases you might be paying for someone to actively manage your investments and make sustainable selections on your behalf, so these may cost a little bit more. Find out if there is an additional cost for funds, on top of the customer or platform charge.
App-based
Most platforms offer a mobile app, and this is a great addition when you’re on the go and keeping tabs of how your investments are performing. If it matters to you, make sure one is on offer.
Who is managing your money
If you’re investing for sustainability then you are probably wanting to invest with a company who you think are doing the right things. So, look around, do some research on them and find out who they are.
We’ve run the numbers through our free simple investment comparison tool and here are the top five investment platforms offering sustainable investments based on a £3,000 investment into an ISA. The results are ranked by Compare+Invest’s rating.
AJ Bell
The AJ Bell platform is competitively priced and has a wide range of investments to choose from. AJ Bell has also been offering sustainable funds for several years, including its own AJ Bell Responsible Screened Growth fund and its Responsible Managed Portfolio Service range of funds. Its lower cost platform offering, Dodl, also has sustainable and ethical investments options.
Bestinvest by Evelyn Partners
The Bestinvest platform is also competitively priced and scores particularly well on information and support. The fund information on its website provides a clear description of each fund’s strategy and lists its top holdings, so you can see which companies it invests in. You can also filter for sustainable funds on its investment search function. It recently relabelled its Sustainable Ready-made Portfolios as the Horizon Ready-made Portfolios to comply with regulatory guidelines, though the portfolios still have allocations to sustainable strategies.
Hargreaves Lansdown
Like Bestinvest, Hargreaves Lansdown offers detailed information on ESG and sustainable investing, some of which is available through its Responsible Investment hub. Its Wealth Shortlist includes several responsible funds, while investors can view the top 10 holdings and sectors for all funds. But while ESG funds are widely available on the platform, its range of ready-made portfolios doesn’t include a dedicated ethical or ESG offering.
The Big Exchange
Co-founded by The Big Issue in 2020, The Big Exchange only provides access to sustainable investments that have a positive impact on the world. It aims to give ethically minded investors the opportunity to make their money work harder for them as well as the planet and the people on it. It has a range of ready-made investment portfolios for new investors or a wider range of investment funds that meet its own in-house sustainability criteria. The funds listed are rated against the UN Sustainable Development Goals, with each rated on their ability to bring about positive change.
Willis Owen
The information Willis Owen provides on sustainable investing is limited by comparison to many of its peers. However, investors have a range of ESG funds and sustainable ETFs to choose from on the platform and its Focus Funds list. Its ready-made investments include a Responsible Growth option for each risk rating, though it doesn’t offer a dedicated sustainable investment portfolio. The firm was acquired in late 2024 by Moneyfarm, which provides access to a broader range of resources sustainable investing and includes an ESG option among its ready-made ISA portfolios.
How do they price up?*
Sustainable investing doesn’t have to be expensive. We plugged our scenario into our Compare+Invest free simple investment comparison tool. This is for people who are new to investing and do not have a lot of investment knowledge.
We put the full £3,000 into an ISA and also selected Yes to sustainable investments and Yes to a platform with lots of tools, research and guides for customers, this time ranking the results by the lowest platform fees rather than by ratings.
| Platform | Annual cost |
|---|---|
| Vanguard | £4.50 |
| AJ Bell | £7.50 |
| Close Brothers | £7.50 |
| The Big Exchange | £7.50 |
| Charles Stanley Direct | £10.50 |
What next?
We all need to take our next steps to live more sustainably, and investing is a great way to see where you have made a positive impact. Run our free comparison tools and take a look at the individual platform pages on Compare+Invest to find out more about the providers we’ve been looking at.
Photo by Marcus Spiske on Unsplash
