Social businesses set to benefit from new ethical investment marketplace

A new online ethical investment platform has launched today, which its founder believes is “the first step in creating a collaborative community of ethical investors”.

Ethex allows individuals to easily buy, sell and compare investments in a number of the UK’s most popular social businesses, including Good Energy, Charity Bank and the Ethical Property Company.

Its objective is to champion positive investment, which brings about both social and financial returns and focuses on doing good, rather than simply nullifying the bad – a technique known as negative screening.

“Positive investing means investing in a business because of what it does, not what it doesn’t do”, said Ethex’s founding director Jamie Hartzell, who first spoke to Blue & Green Tomorrow about this latest venture of his in October.

“As both a social entrepreneur raising capital, and an investor looking for both a social and financial return, I found that positive investing was not as easy as it should be. Ethex changes that.

“We believe that Ethex is a game-changer – we want to do for ethical investment what fair trade and organics have done for ethical consumerism.”

All the companies available for investment through Ethex display social, environmental and financial benefits to potential investors, and the newly-launched online marketplace hopes to have at least 14 products on its shelf by the summer.

“People have lost trust in the financial system”, added Hartzell.

“Ethex goes back to first principles, allowing people to think for themselves about what they want to do with their money, financially, socially and environmentally.”

For more information about Ethex, as well as to sign up and view the investment products currently on offer, visit its website.

Further reading:

Ethex: empowering education on ethical investment

The Ethex Tea & Debate for National Ethical Investment Week

Positive investing is the way forward for ethical investors

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