Making money the right way: ethical investment accounts triple

Aussies are making thousands of dollars just by switching where they invest their money. See where Australia’s top investors live.

Ethical investors are being rewarded with returns on par or above those provided by regular investment portfolios according to new figures obtained by News Corp.

The data, provided by online investment adviser, Stockspot, also shows the number of ESG (environment, social, governance) accounts has surged, growing by 223 per cent in 2021.

More than 15 per cent of Stockspot accounts are now ESG, the data revealed. And for good reason.

Millennials accounted for most of Stockspot’s sustainable investment clients, with more than 40 per cent in their 30s, while 21 per cent were investing on behalf of their children. The oldest sustainable investment client was in their 80s.

Most ethical investors were based in Victoria and New South Wales according to the data, with nine of the top ten home postcodes located in the southern states, and one in Queensland (number ten).

The top suburbs in New South Wales were Bondi, Bondi Beach and North Bondi followed by Glebe and Forest Lodge. In Victoria, the top suburbs were Clifton Hill and Fitzroy North, followed by Brunswick then Coburg.

Sherwood, Oxley, Corinda and Graceville are home to most of Queensland’s ethical investors, while in South Australia, it’s Blackwood, Coromandel Valley, followed by Klemzig and Woodville Park.

Tasmania’s ESG investors reside in South Hobart, West Hobart and Sandy Bay, and in Western Australia, the top suburbs are Maylands, South Perth, Hilton, Hamilton Hill and Kardinya. In the ACT, Turner, Braddon and Campbell took out the top spots, while in the Northern Territory, it was Larrakeyah, Stuart Park and Darwin City.

Ethical and sustainable investments are on the rise.

The most popular professions for ethically minded investors are human resources, marketing, information and communication technology, health, and education.

Sydney-based horticulturist Duncan Hilder has been an investor for 12 years, opting for sustainable investment options for the past 10.

“I believe it’s one of the best ways to hold businesses accountable. Big business has damaged this planet enough already, and I think that those businesses doing right by planet Earth should be supported,” he said.

Mr Hilder said he’s pleased with average returns of more than 16.5 per cent on his sustainable investments, and urged investors to let go of the perceived security of more established businesses.

Ethical investor Duncan Hilder. Picture: Supplied

“Sustainability is the future, and those businesses will eventually have to change their practices to fall in line. Seems smarter to just invest in the companies that are already employing ethical standards and sustainable practices.”

Climate change and the Russian invasion of Ukraine have likely played a role in the increased interest is ESG investment opportunities.

“Because they (investors) are real human beings who have values other than the return on investment,” said Griffith University Research Professor in Ethics Charles Sampford.

Professor Sampford said he’d observed a particular increase and more options in ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds) and super products.

But Professor Sampford said for ethical investment to make an actual difference, it must align with other actions such as consumer and voting choices.

“In the last few years alone, we’ve been hit by the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) report, more frequent bushfires and now flooding. We can’t keep our heads in the sand any longer and if this planet is going to be habitable for anyone other than ourselves then we need to be thinking more sustainably and more socially,” Mr Hilder said.

“People are more aware now of the effects non-ESGs have had on the planet and I think the idea of investing sustainably is a great way to make change.”