• Carbon footprint of the fund 40% lower than global equity index
• Switching £20,000 into the fund from a portfolio of global shares can deliver the same reduction in carbon emissions as going vegetarian on an ongoing basis
• Three week offer period opens today – available via SIPP, ISA and dealing account
AJ Bell is launching a new Responsible Growth Fund for people that want diversified exposure to companies with strong environmental, social and governance (ESG) credentials.
Investment process
The AJ Bell Responsible Growth Fund will invest in responsibly screened ETFs which remove stocks from controversial businesses such as tobacco or alcohol. Any company that breaches the UN Global Compact is also excluded. Once these companies are removed, companies that have strong ESG factors are included to give a diversified exposure to different regions and sectors, with better than average impact on both people and the planet.
Environmental impact
Compared to investing in a portfolio of global shares (represented by a the MSCI ACWI index), the carbon footprint of the fund is 40% lower.
• Switching a £10k investment out of the MSCI ACWI index into the fund is equivalent to recycling 15 bags of rubbish rather than sending them to landfill each year
• Switching a £20k investment gives the same reduction in carbon emissions as going vegetarian on an ongoing basis
• Switching a £125k investment gives the same reduction in carbon emissions as giving up your car on an ongoing basis
Benefits to investors
The AJ Bell Responsible Growth Fund aims to make responsible investing easy for investors being:
Simple - The fund offers a hassle-free route to a diversified portfolio of shares, spread across different regions and sectors. Saving investors / adviser from having to manage the portfolio themselves.
Transparent – AJ Bell will disclose all portfolio holdings on its website, so investors know where they are invested, as well as producing quarterly reports and videos on the funds current positioning.
Low-Cost – AJ Bell uses rules-based ETFs within the fund, which are typically cheaper than active funds.
Charges
AJ Bell’s annual management charge is 0.15%. The Ongoing Charges Figure (OCF) is capped at 1% and AJ Bell will automatically pass any economies of scale back to customers in the form of a lower OCF as the fund grows in size, as it has done with other funds in its range.
Offer period
The offer period for the fund opens today (2 November) at a price of £1 per unit, running for a period of 3 weeks. The fund starts trading on the 23rd November.
The fund is available via SIPPs, ISAs and Dealing accounts via the AJ Bell Youinvest & AJ Bell Investcentre platforms.
Kevin Doran, chief investment officer at AJ Bell, comments:
“People are increasingly waking up to the fact that their long-term investments can be put to good use by investing in companies that are making a positive contribution to our society and the environment. We want to make that as easy as possible for them by providing a fully managed portfolio that does all the heavy lifting for them and focuses on maximising investment returns whilst investing responsibly.”