Phil Gyford

Approaching the end of the financial year there are always adverts and articles advising anyone who hasn’t yet done so to stash some money in an ISA (everyone in the UK is allowed to save a few thousand pounds per year tax free in one of these bank accounts). If you’re planning to do so by 5 April, or plan to do so after, it’s worth looking at ethical options. These may not offer quite as much interest as conventional accounts, but at least you’re unlikely to be contributing to the kinds of activities that have got us all in this current mess. It’s well worth a few quid to be sure your money isn’t buying and selling weapons behind your back.

BBC News has a brief and coherent guide on what ethical investing is all about, although it’s three years old now. There are plenty of options of where to save your money. Two examples are Triodos Bank and Ecology Building Society which both offer Mini Cash ISAs (Triodos’ and Ecology’s) and invest in a variety of worthy initiatives. If you want some advice that’s rather better than my uneducated guesses, Google has a list of ethical financial advisers and the UK-based ones are easy to spot; I’ve had good experiences with GAEIA, for what that’s worth.