Good Money Week: Sustainable Investment Comes of Age

When it comes to money, anything ethical or green was once considered a niche prospect, but sustainable finance is finally becoming mainstream. This change in the tide is partly being driven by a younger generation who want to make a positive impact with their money.

In fact, new research from Triodos Bank predicts that the UK’s Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) market is set to be worth a massive £48bn by 2027, growing by 173% over the next decade. It’s latest Annual Impact Investing survey found that 19% of UK investors are planning to invest in an SRI fund in the coming years, rising to almost half (47%) of investors aged 18-34. As this new generation of socially conscious millennial investors see increases in their incomes, the research predicts a “tipping point” of accelerated growth from 2023.

Expected contribution to increases in ethical investing by age group (£million):

While the increasing popularity of impact investing is welcome news, it has also sparked debate regarding the rise of ‘impact-washing’ – or as the Global Impact Investing Network defined it, the concern that misuse and dilution of the term impact investing will render it nearly meaningless.

Triodos’ research found that 45% of investors are worried that some investment funds labelled as SRI are in fact still investing in companies which have a negative impact on society or the environment.

In the lead up to Good Money Week, which kicks off this weekend, we have helped Triodos to tell the story of ethical investing, raising the profile of its own high performing SRI funds among an ethical investor audience.

After devising and developing the impact investing research, we created a range of content for media, including relevant investor case studies, and spread the word among our media contacts. The research has since been covered in the Financial Times, Daily Express and Edie, with a total online readership of 188million.

Last month, Greenhouse also helped launch a new ethical investment share offer for Stockwood Community Benefit Society. Investment in the community-owned sustainable organic farm and business park ensures money is used to deliver positive social and environmental impacts. Our work on the launch led to an in-depth feature in The Times as well as coverage in BusinessGreen and FarmingUK and on BBC Hereford and Worcester.

We are specialists in communications for ethical and sustainable finance. If your financial organisation has a story to tell, we’d love to help you. Please get in touch to hear more.