PensionBee is proud to offer customers the Climate Portfolio, a retirement plan designed to support customers who want to pursue investment opportunities that arise as we transition to a lower-carbon economy and align with the Paris Agreement requirements. It invests in companies, technologies or industries working to reduce the impact of climate change and promote environmental sustainability.
Key Principles of Socially Responsible Investing
Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Criteria
Environmental, Social and Governance criteria - known as ESG criteria - play an important role in the selection of your investments, but it's important to consider what is driving your motivations. If you are interested in being a mindful steward of the earth and aligning your investments with your principles—in terms of ESG, this means considering the social and environmental impact of the companies you support through investment and prioritizing those that are consistent with initiatives to protect the earth and the people on it. PensionBee’s Climate Portfolio is a great place to start.
Ethical Considerations in Investment Choices
Personal ethics can guide your financial investments to ensure they align with your core values. This means making wise decisions about your investments and evaluating companies and industries that uphold the principles you value most. For example, investing in companies that stand for fair labor practices, prioritize family values, or have a zero carbon emissions footprint can have an incredible social impact.
Types of SRI Strategies
Negative Screening
A negative screening strategy involves excluding companies or industries from your investment portfolio based on your principles, values, and components of ESG criteria, allowing you to avoid investments that conflict with your moral standards or those that engage in what you consider to be harmful business practices.
Positive Screening
A positive screening strategy means identifying and selecting companies that excel in specific areas that are important to you, such as clean energy or social responsibility. This helps you build a portfolio that reflects your values and supports organizations that make choices that align with your interests. A simple place to start is looking at PensionBee’s Climate Portfolio.
Impact Investing
Impact investing aims to generate both positive social and environmental outcomes alongside financial returns. This strategy involves investing in organizations that address critical challenges and ensure measurable results that align with your beliefs.
How to Get Started with SRI
Setting Personal Investment Goals
It's important to be clear about your financial goals as well as your unwavering principles, values, and beliefs. Consider the issues you're most passionate about, whether that's supporting family-oriented businesses, promoting ethical labor practices, or investing in companies that demonstrate a commitment to environmental stewardship.
Having that clarity allows you to create a focused investment strategy that aligns your investment decisions with your values and convictions. Plus, setting detailed goals to achieve certain investment returns or contribute to a specific cause gives you the power to enact positive social impact in ways that are meaningful to you.
Select Investments
Part of building an SRI portfolio involves vetting and selecting sustainable investments that meet your criteria, while also considering the potential financial returns. Purchasing stocks in companies that prioritize clean energy in place of emission-rich fossil fuels for developed nations, for example, or investing in private equity, socially responsible mutual funds, or exchange-traded funds (ETFs), such as PensionBee’s Climate Portfolio. Diversification is the key to a robust investment plan, so be sure to look at several options and types of investments before making any selections.
The Future of Socially Responsible Investing
Trends and Predictions in SRI
SRI has grown in popularity in recent years as many investors begin to concern themselves with the value systems of the organizations they support through their investments. As we move forward, emerging trends indicate a rising demand for investment opportunities that prioritize corporate responsibility so investors can support companies demonstrating ethical practices and a commitment to social good.
Regulatory Developments Impacting SRI
Governments and regulatory bodies around the globe play a critical role in furthering the landscape of SRI as measures are implemented to promote more sustainable investing and higher ESG performance standards. As these regulatory frameworks evolve, it's expected that we'll see greater accountability within the SRI market which will give investors the ability to make better investment decisions, all while contributing to a more responsible and sustainable economy.
Aligning Investments with Values for Lasting Impact
SRI offers a great way for individual investors to align their investments with their specific beliefs and values. PensionBee is proud to offer theClimate Portfolio to help customers meet their SRI goals. An SRI portfolio can generate returns to help you meet your financial goals and also make a positive impact on the world around you. As the concept of SRI grows, we can hope to view it as a tool for personal and societal transformation, and invest our money with the same purpose and intention that we apply to every other aspect of our daily lives.
