Problems finding an ethical pension

chilswelluk

I am having problems looking for an ethical pension.  As a vegan, my main criteria is that I don't want anything that will invest in animal experimentation (medical or non medical) or animal agriculture.  I want zero investment in these areas, but can't find any suitable schemes.  Zero investment is important, as many schemes brand themselves as ethical in these areas, but still invest a small percentage in these sectors.  Many schemes branded as ethical also prioritise criteria such as not investing in gambling, alcohol, pornography etc, however I don't hold strong views in theses areas.  Does anyone know of any schemes that meet my ethical criteria?

Nurse2047

I have a small pension in which I invest in this, not sure if this is what your looking for? 

https://www.pensionbee.com/fossil-fuel-free-pension

Nurse2047

sent you sent you msg to you inbox also @chilswelluk

chilswelluk

MFW2026 said:

I have a small pension in which I invest in this, not sure if this is what your looking for? 

https://www.pensionbee.com/fossil-fuel-free-pension

I have looked at that, but they make no statement regarding the ethical criteria that I have specified.

JoeCrystal

Have you came across this article?: https://www.veganfriendly.org.uk/articles/vegan-pensions-and-investments/ 
Some food for thoughts.at least.

IvanOpinion

JoeCrystal said:

Have you came across this article?: https://www.veganfriendly.org.uk/articles/vegan-pensions-and-investments/ 
Some food for thoughts.at least.

Hopefully meat free food for thought

Andy_L

In and of itself the pension is a wrapper that holds investments so the pension itself is ethically neutral.
It is the investments that you choose to hold in it that need to reflect your ethical standing. A target of "zero", rather than "as low as is reasonably practicable" is going to be difficult.

You can hold shares in an individual company so you could vet that company to see if it is ok but most investing is done via funds that have lots of companies in them and vetting all of them to ensure zero animal association would be a lot of research effort and require a lot of philosophical thought on where to draw the line (eg does an electrical company that supplies a farm count or not? Does a firm with a staff canteen that serves meat count?)

dunstonh

There is no such thing as an ethical pension (apart from perhaps marketing by the odd provider).      A modern whole of market pension allows you to select the investments of your choice from the whole of market.   So, if you want a fund with certain ethical approaches then you select one.    It is at fund level that it matters.  Not pension provider level.

If your ethical views are extremely niche, then you may have to buy shares rather than use funds.   However, you should be able to negatively screen meat farmers and positive screen companies that provide vegan foods.

robatwork

As said, no such thing.

You need a pension that invests in Ethical funds, and even then you'll need to screen them to ensure they fulfill your criteria. Here's a list of funds for example: https://moneyfacts.co.uk/star-ratings/what-are-the-best-ethical-funds/

The question of an ethical bank crops up on that board from time to time. The conclusion is also that there's no such thing. 
Even when one purports to be (Co-op), it comes out in the wash that ethics and morals aren't endemic in the company. 

In short you can try, but short of investing in local farmers you know personally, you're relying on unreliable people.

Albermarle

Ethical funds can be crudely split into light green funds , which basically just avoid armaments, oil companies etc or Dark Green funds who avoid a much larger range of activities . These tend to be more expensive and I have no idea of where any of then stand on animal welfare etc .
The question of an ethical bank crops up on that board from time to time. The conclusion is also that there's no such thing. 
I would not necessarily agree with that . Triodos bank has a pretty good track record, especially in actively supporting social enterprises, charities with loans.https://www.triodos.co.uk/

chilswelluk

Andy_L said:

You can hold shares in an individual company so you could vet that company to see if it is ok but most investing is done via funds that have lots of companies in them and vetting all of them to ensure zero animal association would be a lot of research effort and require a lot of philosophical thought on where to draw the line

I think investing in individual companies is totally out, I just don't have the time to do the research that it would take.  I was hoping to find an ethical fund off the shelf that met my criteria.  I need to find something ASAP, as I am about to pull the plug on my work scheme, as I am really not happy with how the pension is invested.  When I say not happy, this is an understatement, as it has caused me many sleepless nights.