Wealthsimple has improved their Socially Responsible Investing Portfolios with more stringent requirements for companies to qualify.
They’ve lowered their carbon footprint, screened out weapons manufacturers, removed companies in violation of the UN Global Compact and companies that don’t meet gender parity requirements, and more!
With Wealthsimple’s Socially Responsible Investing Portfolios you have the opportunity to maximize returns, minimize fees, and support a diverse group of companies.
Who is Wealthsimple?
Wealthsimple is a robo-advisor that provides completely hands-off investing in the stock market. All you need to do is open an account, add some funds, and they’ll take care of the rest!
Wealthsimple offers diversified portfolios that consist of investing your money in a number of different securities, so you have less investment risk than if you were to invest in only one or two individual stocks.
For more information, you can check out our Wealthsimple review.
Wealthsimple
Get your first $10,000 managed free.
What is Socially Responsible Investing (SRI)?
Sometimes called ethical investing, socially responsible investing means investing in companies that care about the planet and human rights. SRI portfolios allow you to put your money where you expect it to have both a positive financial and social or environmental impact.
For Wealthsimple, this includes:
- Removing companies involved in oil, gas, thermal coal mining, or coal power generation
- Screening to remove companies in the top 25% of carbon emissions in their industry
- Removing companies that are in violation of the UN Global Compact
- Screening out weapons manufacturers
- Ensuring all eligible companies must also meet the ETFs criteria for gender parity
How you can get started with an SRI portfolio
The first step you need to take is to sign up for Wealthsimple, which only takes minutes! You answer a few questions about your financial goals and after that you can choose the SRI portfolio option, which like any other investing you do through Wealthsimple, is curated according to your risk level of choice: conservative, balanced, or high growth.
From that point, Wealthsimple’s money experts will adjust the percentage which you invest in different investing categories:
- WSRI- socially responsible companies in North America
- WSRD- socially responsible companies in developed markets globally
- Bonds- government bonds that mitigate the risk level of your portfolio
Lastly, connect your bank account and make a deposit!
You can get your fist $10,000 managed for free when you sign up here.
Wealthsimple
Get your first $10,000 managed free.
What’s in the Wealthsimple SRI portfolios ?
Wealthsimple SRI portfolios contain the following ETFs:
SRI’s are a great way to invest in a more socially and environmentally conscious world
And Wealthsimple makes it so easy to do! Consider going ethical with your investments and support companies that align with your values.
2 Comments. Leave new
Are the expected returns of SRIs equal to those of the regular protfolio?
To respond to Christine’s question above, my WS SRI account (medium-high risk) made 15.2% (money weighted return) in 2019. I believe you can look at how the different SRI/ regular accounts have performed over time on their website.