Sustainable Investment Finder

We’ve worked with SRI Services to create a helpful list of all the funds on our platform that are intended for clients with an interest in sustainability and ESG related issues. Fund strategies vary. Most of these funds will integrate environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues into their investment research, however where they invest will vary as managers focus on different aspects of ESG and have different thresholds. Funds with a greater emphasis on stewardship and engagement are more likely to invest in controversial companies – often with the aim of improving them. These are mostly found in the ‘ESG weighted’ and ‘Limited exclusions’ styles. Or they may seek to invest in companies that are displaying leadership or solving challenges from a sustainability perspective. Some also seek to have a positive impact on the environment or society. These are mostly found in the ‘focused’ styles. Client preferences vary and this is a complex area, so the list is not completely comprehensive.

SRI is an independent business with over three decades of experience in sustainable investments, founded by Julia Dreblow. The company's mission is to help change the way people invest, by making it easier to bring environmental, social and ethical issues into their financial planning.

We’ve worked with our partner, SRI Services, to create a helpful list of all the funds available on the platform that demonstrate a commitment to investing sustainably. All companies – and all funds – have sustainability characteristics, the list we offer here is of all the funds on our platform that are promoted as focusing on sustainability and ESG issues.

Important information: This is a complex area, so we can’t promise that this list is completely comprehensive or that it matches your client’s personal opinions, but we are confident it’s a good starting point.

The list is under a constant cycle of review. Once SRI Services has carried out its initial categorisation of the fund, it will ask fund managers to complete annual surveys to collect additional detail and confirm there are no material changes to the fund strategy that could alter the category it falls under. Funds are then reassessed for their category in this ongoing cycle. In addition, we work closely with SRI Services to ensure any relevant new funds on the platform are introduced into the initial assessment cycle to enable them to be added to this list as quickly as possible. A fund can only be added after an assessment has been made.

The purpose of the tool is to help advisers search for funds that are promoted as sustainable, responsible, ethical or ESG investments. You can search for funds in two ways:

Firstly, if you know the fund you are looking for, you can find it by typing the name, key word or ISIN in the search function.

Secondly, you can conduct a general search. One option is to search for funds by ‘SRI Style’ or, in other words, your client’s preferred approach to sustainable investing. Each fund is classified under one of seven SRI Styles, such as ‘Sustainably focused’ or ‘Environmentally focused’. You can select as many SRI Styles as you wish. However, the more SRI Styles you select, the larger the resulting fund list will be.

You can also search or refine your list by selecting certain issues a client may feel passionate about, like avoiding companies involved with tobacco or fossil fuels. You can also select the aims and approach of a fund manager, such as seeking to deliver a positive impact.

Please note that selecting multiple advanced filters may dramatically reduce the resulting fund list and in some instances no funds may meet all the selected criteria.

You can search by SRI Style and advanced filters independently or in combination.

SRI Styles work based on keeping everything simple. They are designed to help advisers and their clients find their way around funds in the sustainable, responsible, and ethical universe more easily. There are seven SRI Styles and each fund is categorised as one of these seven styles. For clients wishing to invest based on more specific issues or a particular approach, you should use the advanced filter options to refine your search. SRI Styles focus on ‘which funds consider’ and the extent to which issues are embedded in fund strategies. Funds are grouped according to what they are designed to do – from an ‘ethical’, ‘ESG’ or ‘sustainable’ perspective. The aim of this is to help you recognise key similarities and differences between funds (in terms of what drives investment selection) so that funds can be matched to client preferences more easily.

Please note there are variations within each SRI Style. Different issues may be considered and there is cross-over between many of the styles (for example, most funds in this area consider climate change).

Sustainability focused
These funds favour companies that offer products and services that are enabling greener lifestyles or show sustainability leadership. Strategies vary but they typically stay away from more controversial companies like those with poor environmental and/or social sustainability standards, as well as arms and tobacco companies.

Environmentally focused
These funds focus on environmental issues and opportunities. Strategies vary. Some focus on a single issue like water, resource management or waste, others focus on broader issues such as biodiversity and climate change.

Socially focused
These funds focus on people issues – from employment and education, to diversity, equality and human rights. They typically invest in companies with leading social standards and, or those delivering positive benefits to society.

Ethically focused
These funds focus on issues relating to personal values or opinions. Strategies vary but they typically invest in companies with more positive environmental and social practices and avoid areas that are widely regarded as more negative – like arms, tobacco and gambling.

ESG (environmental, social, governance) weighted
These funds will consider environmental, social and governance (ESG) or sustainability issues, but aren’t wholly directed by them. They tend to favour companies with higher ESG or sustainability standards or may work with companies to improve their sustainability practices as part of their stewardship strategies. This diverse group of funds tend to have more exposure to controversial companies than funds labelled as ‘focused’.

Limited exclusions
These funds will invest in all or most sectors and only limit investment in, or exclude a small number of, companies such as tobacco companies or companies that breach commonly adopted ESG standards. They may or may not aim to encourage companies to improve their standards.

Faith based
These funds focus on faith-based issues. They tend to use negative ethical screening to invest in assets that align with a recognised religion or faith. Other funds may also be suitable for investors of faith, although their core focus is not religious beliefs.

No, each fund is designated under just one SRI Style. You should therefore carefully choose the SRI Style that broadly matches your client’s desired approach to sustainable investing. The tool does allow you to select more than one SRI Style and because of the similarities between some of the styles (such as sustainability, environmental and ethical) it is often a good idea to do so. However, the more SRI Styles you select, the larger the resulting fund list will be.

SRI Styles are determined by SRI Services who decide which style is most appropriate for a fund by looking at individual fund information. Once SRI Services has carried out its initial categorisation of a fund, it will ask the fund manager to complete annual surveys to confirm there are no material changes to the fund strategy that could change the category it falls under. A fund’s SRI Style may be changed when a fund is reviewed, and the SRI Style categories are also updated from time to time to ensure they remain useful.

Advanced filters allow you to select certain issues that your client may care about, like avoiding companies involved with tobacco fossil fuels. We have split these into the following groups for ease of use (although there is cross-over between them). These are:

Environmental

Social and governance

Ethical

Fund manager’s aims and approaches (the way the fund positions itself, how it is set up to consider issues or its approach to the ‘outcomes’ its strategy helps to deliver).

Please keep in mind that the list of issues is simply the areas a fund manager considers, and fund strategies vary. Funds combine issues and approaches in different ways, so please consider both when researching funds. For example, if a fund has a ‘Human rights policy’ you will know the fund considers that issue. In most instances you can expect this to mean they will avoid companies with low standards - however funds set the bar at different hights. Where a fund is focused on encouraging positive change through stewardship (voting and engagement) activity the bar may be set very low because the managers aim is to effect change. Funds with an ‘ESG tilt’ or ‘Limited exclusions’ should be expected to have lower thresholds than other styles.

You can search by SRI Style and advanced filters independently or in combination. You can use as many or as few filters as you like if you consider all of the options that might be relevant to a client.

For a client with a clear SRI Style preference, searching a single style may work well. For a client with specific issues or aims in mind the advance filters may be best used on their own.

For many clients, considering several styles may make sense, because of the similarities between some of the styles. For example, if someone is looking to invest in companies with high environmental standards and avoid armaments and tobacco companies Sustainability focus, Environmental focus and Ethical focus funds could all be suitable.

However, because each fund is classified under one of seven SRI Styles the more SRI Styles you select, the larger the resulting fund list will be. The advanced filters will help you to refine your search for such clients. Multiple advanced filters may dramatically reduce the resulting fund list and in some instances no funds may meet all the selected criteria, so it is important to understand what matters most to your client.