Ethical Index linked funds

JamesA123

Hello,

I was wondering if anyone knew of any good (customer service, low charges) ethical index linked funds? Ideally I'd like to avoid the UK for the foreseeable.

Thanks

ColdIron

You won't be dealing with customer service at the fund level

masonic

"Index linked funds"? Do you mean index trackers? Index linked usually refers to something that goes up with the rate of inflation.

Customer service is not something you'd be getting from a fund provider. You would generally hold funds via an investment platform.

The trouble with ethical is that people have different ethical standards and priorities, so you'd need to pick an investment based on your own preferences. This site has a list of potential options that you could research.

dunstonh

Index linked gilts are considered neutral in terms of ethical classification.   So, you don't have specific ethical index linked funds.

...although as masonic says, maybe you didnt mean index linked and meant index trackers.  However, if you have an ethical stance, you probably dont want a tracker as it is unlikely to match your ethics. Unless you are not taking the ethical stance that seriously and just want a bit of the feel good factor.  Although do remember that ethical investing results in lower returns.  So, you are putting your money where your views are.  

Customer service doesnt apply to funds as you never deal with the fund house or fund manager.  Customer service applies to the platform.  Unless you intend to buy from a more expensive robo provider.

InvesterJones

The fund finder indirectly linked above looks like a good starting point - you can filter on passive to see a list of funds which track indices that have some kind of ethical criteria (and you can filter those criteria). Fidelity have a similar Sustainable Investment finder (https://www.fidelity.co.uk/investing-esg/sustainable-investment-finder/ ) that allows you to select from a range of ethical criteria to filter funds - the results show even more funds than those at the ethicalinvestor link, but there isn't an option to select passive/index trackers only, so you'll have to go through them manually (or ask them to to provide you a list - if you're paying a premium for the platform might as well take use of the service).

DoneWorking

InvesterJones said:

The fund finder indirectly linked above looks like a good starting point - you can filter on passive to see a list of funds which track indices that have some kind of ethical criteria (and you can filter those criteria). Fidelity have a similar Sustainable Investment finder (https://www.fidelity.co.uk/investing-esg/sustainable-investment-finder/) that allows you to select from a range of ethical criteria to filter funds - the results show even more funds than those at the ethicalinvestor link, but there isn't an option to select passive/index trackers only, so you'll have to go through them manually (or ask them to to provide you a list - if you're paying a premium for the platform might as well take use of the service).

Fidelity link not working 

tacpot12

If you want an index tracker, you should first identify the index you want it to track, then see if there is a fund that tracks that index - not all indexes have funds you can buy to track them.

One issue you might come up against is the currency that the index is measured in. For example, the FTSE4Good All-world Index is measured in US Dollars. This means that currency movements can affect how the index performs as well as the underlying investments. 

The FTSE4Good series of indicies might be good for you, as you might be able to build a portfolio that tracks the North American, Europe, Asia and Japan Indicies without having to track the UK index. Have a look at their brochuure here if you are interested: ftse4good-brochure.pdf (ftserussell.com)

masonic

DoneWorking said:

InvesterJones said:

The fund finder indirectly linked above looks like a good starting point - you can filter on passive to see a list of funds which track indices that have some kind of ethical criteria (and you can filter those criteria). Fidelity have a similar Sustainable Investment finder (https://www.fidelity.co.uk/investing-esg/sustainable-investment-finder/) that allows you to select from a range of ethical criteria to filter funds - the results show even more funds than those at the ethicalinvestor link, but there isn't an option to select passive/index trackers only, so you'll have to go through them manually (or ask them to to provide you a list - if you're paying a premium for the platform might as well take use of the service).

Fidelity link not working 

Take the ) at the end off.

InvesterJones

DoneWorking said:

InvesterJones said:

The fund finder indirectly linked above looks like a good starting point - you can filter on passive to see a list of funds which track indices that have some kind of ethical criteria (and you can filter those criteria). Fidelity have a similar Sustainable Investment finder (https://www.fidelity.co.uk/investing-esg/sustainable-investment-finder/) that allows you to select from a range of ethical criteria to filter funds - the results show even more funds than those at the ethicalinvestor link, but there isn't an option to select passive/index trackers only, so you'll have to go through them manually (or ask them to to provide you a list - if you're paying a premium for the platform might as well take use of the service).

Fidelity link not working 

Thanks, MSE forum auto generated the link and got it wrong (included bracket), have edited.

Albermarle

Triodos are a long established 'ethical bank' who also offer a limited choice of investments.
I think at least you can be sure that the investments are properly vetted, and not just some greenwashing. However I have not looked into their cost or performance.
Triodos Impact Investments

Millyonare

Worth a read.