Using your stocks and shares ISA to invest in environmental, social and governance (ESG) funds is a way to make a difference with your money. Helping you invest in the future for you, your loved ones … and everyone else.
Stocks and shares ISAs explained
A stocks and shares ISA is a type of account that lets you invest without having to pay income tax or capital gains tax. You invest your money in the stock market by picking from a wide range of funds, including ESG ones, with the aim of increasing your money. Though, remember, all investments can fall as well as rise in value and you could get back less than has been put in. Tax benefits depend on your individual circumstances, are subject to interpretation and may change in the future.
What’s an ESG stocks and shares ISA?
The aim of an ESG stocks and shares ISA is to make it easier for you to pop your money into investments that make a positive impact on the world – without sacrificing making a profit.
With ESG investments, you’re putting your money into companies that are doing good for the environment or humanity. Many have ethical or sustainable investment strategies to help you can also actively slam the door on ones you believe aren’t, like the arms industry or oil giants.
So you can be confident you’re investing in companies that are making the world a shinier place, from their climate change policies, to their human rights record, to the diversity of their boardroom.
How to invest in an ESG stocks and shares ISA
How you go about investing in sustainable investments depends on what you want and the particular stocks and shares ISA you choose.
Different providers and different ISAs will serve up different things. For example, there are some ethical stocks and shares ISAs that only offer ESG investments.
Others, like our Aviva Stocks & Shares ISA, give you the flexibility to bend and twist and pick your own investments from a range of different funds, including a wide selection of ESG ones. It comes down to what you want to invest in and what you hug close to your heart. Some ESG funds may be good all-rounders. Others may lean towards a particular concern. So, for example, if climate change is what you’re interested in, you could go green with an investment that’s more environment focused.
Benefits of investing in an ESG stocks and shares ISA
By picking ESG investments for your stocks and shares ISA, you’ll embrace all the tax benefits an ISA brings, without having to burn your beliefs. The idea is that profit and principles go hand-in-hand.
Easy ESG with our Aviva Stocks & Shares ISA
With our Aviva Stocks & Shares ISA, you can choose how hands-on you want to be – including cherry-picking your investment funds from our dedicated ESG experts’ shortlist.
This shortlist is crammed with investment funds our experts believe stand out from the crowd thanks to their ESG credentials. You can see the whole ESG shortlist or filter it to only show the funds we think are the very best in the ESG class.
You can also research and pick your own responsible funds from our self-select range to jump on investments that take ESG issues into consideration, or ones that are committed to specific ESG causes.
We also have a treasure trove of online resources to help you understand ESG and responsible investing better.