Sustainable Pension Schemes

So you’ve bought your reusable coffee cup, you’ve cut down your water usage, and you’re walking and cycling more… now what?

Have you considered where you’re investing your money? In the UK it is mandatory for employers to enrol all employees over the age of 22 into a pension scheme once they’re earning at least £10,000 per year. Therefore, most of us have some sort of pension pot set up for our future. It’s something that most of us don’t tend to consider when we’re looking at reducing our carbon footprints and in fact, most of us don’t ever change the pension scheme that we are automatically enrolled in.

But did you know that most standard investment schemes include shares in companies that are notorious for polluting, such as fossil fuel providers and fast fashion brands. A well-rounded investment portfolio includes diversity in the industry as much as it does in asset type and therefore historically little consideration has been given to sustainability.

This means that you could be supporting some of the most notorious greenhouse sinners without even realising it.

Changing your pension investment portfolio could make a monumental difference. So much so that according to the Financial Times, moving a standard £100,000 pension pot to a green scheme could be equal to taking 5-6 cars off the road, every year.

The good news is that most pension companies such as Nest, Legal and General and Moneybox now offer alternative investment schemes with sustainability in mind.

Whether you’re auto-enrolled yourself, choosing a pension scheme for your own employees or if you’re starting a private pension fund for yourself, take a look into the sustainable options that are available to you.

Don’t just stop at pensions, consider where else you may be able to make a change. Do you have other investments? How about your ISA’s? Have you considered who you’re banking with?

If you found this interesting and you would like to hear more about sustainable financial choices in the future, let us know!