What exactly comes to your mind before putting your money into investments? Do you ever think about what purpose your money will serve? Or do you eagerly wait for returns on your investment, i.e., ROI? Investing ethically can give you a better ROI. Not just for you but also for the society you live in. So in today’s learning, let’s look at terms like ethical investing and green investing, and the 5 Sustainable Investment Platforms that make you a responsible investor.
What is ethical investing?
Ethical investing is where you invest your money in companies that are working towards making a positive impact. This could be related to areas like sustainable energy, promoting gender equality, ethical labor management, minority empowerment, or supporting companies that are striving to lower their carbon footprint. An investment where purpose meets profit!
Ethics is subjective from person to person. Therefore, something ethical to you may not be ethical to someone else. That is why it’s very important to make sure the ethical, socially responsible investments to make align with your personal ethical code and the type of impact you’d like to make.
What is green investing?
Green investing refers to investment activity that focuses on projects or areas that are dedicated to preserving the environment. These areas could include pollution reduction, the reduction of fossil fuel usage, the conservation of natural resources, the production of alternative energy sources, and projects related to the cleaning and maintenance of air and water, waste management, or any other type of environmentally-conscious practices.
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5 Investment Platforms To Invest Responsibly
Thankfully many ethical investment platforms let you make a social, responsible, and purposeful decision. Here are our top 5 picks that are easy, automated, transparent, and customizable where you can invest your money in green tech, renewable energy, clean water, and more. So get ready to be a responsible investor.
1. Betterment
Betterment is here to give you financial peace of mind by simplifying overly-complex ideas. It can help you set your goals and give purpose to your money. If you are specifically looking to invest in climate impact, broad impact, or social impact, then Betterment is the sustainable investment platform for you. Betterment’s socially investing portfolios are built by their experts to make it easy to support companies that share your values while making investing in low-cost green ETFs (i.e., exchange-traded funds).
2. OpenInvest
A J.P. Morgan firm, OpenInvest, is working to bring value-based investing into the mainstream.
With the help of Dynamic Custom Indexing, sustainability reporting, proxy voting, tax optimization, and other features, OpenInvest and J.P. Morgan are all set to provide a simple and individualized investing experience.
You get access to a comprehensive and completely diversified portfolio when you invest with OpenInvest, which you can then modify to fit your beliefs. In addition, this investing company covers individual and joint accounts, traditional, ROTH, and SEP IRAs, as well as individual equity tax optimization for more tax savings.
3. Ellevest
Ellevest is the #1 sustainable investment platform for women by women. Ellevest’s investment algorithm considers the particularities of women’s lives, such as pay inequalities and longer lifespans. Ellevest works with any adult US citizen to help turn financial objectives into realities through intelligent investment, even though it has a special emphasis on fair investing for women.
4. EarthFolio
The first green robo-advisor, EarthFolio, currently manages more than $100 million in assets. They are a sustainable investment platform for ethical ESG investing that makes investments in sustainable or responsible funds easier than ever. So, how does this ethical investment platform work? The social investment software from EarthFolio gives you two portfolio options. A Fossil Free Portfolio to completely divest from fossil fuels; and a Core Portfolio comprises funds with good ESG investing ratings. This platform also offers individual and joint investment accounts, regular, Roth, and SEP IRAs, trusts, and 401Ks.
Also, there is a minimum investment requirement of $25,000 and an annual management fee of 0.50 percent in addition to an expense ratio fee.
5. SVX
A non-profit provider of varied financial services, SVX positively impacts investors, groups, funds, and businesses. SVX operates a platform to raise impact capital and make impact investments, as well as one that provides knowledge and insights, designs strategies and products and manages your funds.
They operate in a variety of fields that have a significant influence, including community real estate, equality, food, and climate.
We hope this article has given you some insight to start your journey of becoming a responsible investor. Let us know which of these ethical investing platforms worked well for you.
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