Ecclesiastical most popular fund provider among EIA members

Winning the Moneyfacts award for best ethical investment provider four times in a row, as voted for by the independent financial adviser (IFA) community, and having its Amity UK Fund voted best ethical fund at the Investment Week Climate Change and Ethical Investment Awards 2012, was simply not enough for Ecclesiastical Investment Management. It also recently topped a B&GT poll of Ethical Investment Association (EIA) members.

In our recent survey, EIA members said they used the following funds most often (they were able to select up to five funds):

For 125 years, Ecclesiastical has been at the forefront of socially responsible insurance and investment. Established in 1887 to protect the Anglican Church, it has now grown to provide insurance to charities and heritage property owners as well as being a Which? recommended provider for home insurance 2012. In addition, it manages assets of just under £650m across six funds.

Its goal is to “advise and protect those who enrich the lives of others.” More specifically its stated task is to “run an independent and successful financial services organisation with the highest standards of integrity to produce profit and service for the benefit of church and community”, which would not be a bad goal for many organisations, especially financial service ones.

It also wanst to use its profits for good, conveying the very essence of sustainability: “All businesses need to make a profit and we’re no different. Without profit, we wouldn’t have the strength and security to provide the products, service and specialist knowledge that are so important to our customers. Where we’re different is that we’re owned by a charity. It’s called Allchurches Trust, and it distributes our available profits for the benefit of the church and community.”

There is a lot of cynicism about financial services amongst many investors but as our two Guides to Sustainable Investment (here and here) and Guide to Sustainable Banking illustrated, there are good companies creating healthy profits for their customers and investors, without screwing the planet and its people for a percentage.

The award-winning Ecclesiastical Amity UK fund, launched in 1988 and managed by Sue Round, has delivered 34.6% over five years and 43.4% over three years, against the benchmark UK All Companies of 29.3% and 33.4% respectively (FE Trustnet, 25/01/13).

Further reading:

Sue Round and Ecclesiastical: pioneers in ethical investment

Ecclesiastical report maps historic sustainable investment progress