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CIRCA5000 review
Meet CIRCA5000, the investment app that's looking to help make socially conscious and ethical investing easier.
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If you’re keen to help tackle climate change and make a difference in the world then ethical investing might be right for you. CIRCA5000 is an investment app that lets you invest in more ethical companies through its range of ready made portfolios. We’ve compiled some of CIRCA5000’s features, what you can invest in and some pros and cons of CIRCA5000.
What is CIRCA5000?
CIRCA5000 is an investment app that allows you to invest ethically. It specifically helps its users invest in companies that are aiming to solve social and environmental issues across the world. Alongside the aim to make investing more ethical, CIRCA5000 makes the process easy and simple to understand, it has a range of ready made portfolios, known as “themes” that let you choose what type of impact you make through your investments.
Co-founders Matt Latham and Tom McGillycuddy both previously worked in the investment management industry, where they quickly became jaded by what they saw as the finance sector’s lack of thought into its societal impact. Seeing no alternative in the market, they founded CIRCA5000 to meet the growing demand for socially conscious investors.
CIRCA5000 products
| |
| Stocks and shares ISA | |
| Lifetime ISA (LISA) | |
| Pension | |
| Keep in mind | Capital at risk |
CIRCA5000 offers several different types of account:
- Individual savings account (ISAs). Lets you invest up to your annual allowance without paying tax on your profits.
- General investment account. A standard investment account.
- Junior ISAs. An ISA for under 18s.
- SIPPs. A personal pension.
The account you choose really only determines the tax you pay or the amount you’re allowed to invest. All three of the accounts below let you invest in the same types of investment.
CIRCA5000 stocks and shares ISA
An individual savings account (ISA) lets you invest up to your annual allowance without paying tax on your profits. The annual allowance for the 2023/2024 tax year is £20,000.
CIRCA5000 general investment account
Most people opt for a general investment account once they have used up their ISA allowance for the year. You’re liable to pay tax if you make profits of more than £6,000 in each tax year.
Other than this detail, the general investment account is no different to any other account.
CIRCA5000 junior ISA
A junior ISA lets you invest in your child’s future, up to an annual allowance. The child has access to the funds when they turn 18, at which point they can withdraw it, keep it invested or a combination of the two.
The JISA allowance for the 2023/2024 tax year is £9,000. This means that you can invest up to £9,000 in each tax year and won’t pay tax on any of your profits.
What can I invest in with CIRCA5000?
With CIRCA5000, you can choose from 3 options which decides how you’re invested against its 5 themes. These are “people”, “planet” and “people and planet”. Each of the 5 themes are made up of exchange traded funds (ETFs).
- Clean water. This is about cleaning the world’s water and reducing waste water.
- Cyber security. This is all about security in the digital world.
- Digital learning and educational technology. This is a people-first theme that’s about learning and education.
- Sustainable future of food. This theme is all about ensuring that food is grown and reared sustainably.
- Pharma breakthrough. This is about the treatment of diseases.
- Global clean energy. This theme focuses on our energy sources.
How you’re exposed to these themes will decide on which of the three portfolios you choose:
| Themes | People | Planet | People and planet |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sustainable Future of Food | |||
| Global Clean Energy | |||
| Clean Water | |||
| Pharma Breakthrough | |||
| Digital Learning & EdTech | |||
| Cyber Security & Data Privacy |
Once you’ve decided on your portfolio, you choose a risk level that suits you. This depends on how you feel about investment risk, your goals and how long you plan to invest for.
The risk levels are:
| Cautious | Balanced | Adventurous |
|---|---|---|
| The lowest risk portfolio. For you if you’re worried about losing money. | This is the medium level of risk. Slightly more risk than Cautious but less than Adventurous. | The highest level of risk. This portfolio holds more equities – for you if you’re comfortable with investment risk. |
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CIRCA5000 fees
CIRCA5000 wants to be accessible to as many people as possible, regardless of wealth and financial background. It doesn’t come with a high minimum investment like other finance apps, with a minimum investment of just £5.
Here are CIRCA5000’s fees:
| Fee name | Fee |
|---|---|
| Subscription fee (except SIPPs) | £1 per month |
| Platform fee (except SIPPs) | 0.05% per annum |
| SIPP subscription fee | 0.7% per annum, minimum of £5 per month |
| Fund costs | 0.24%-0.65% per annum |
| Opening and closing account | Free |
| Depositing and withdrawing money | Free |
CIRCA5000 customer service
| |
| Customer help in app | |
| Customer help via email | |
| Customer help over the phone | |
| Community or forums | |
| Keep in mind | Capital at risk |
If you need help from CIRCA5000’s customer service team, you can get in touch over the phone, via email and in its app using a chat feature.
CIRCA5000 has really good reviews on the App Store, Google Play store and Trustpilot — customers said they like that it’s easy to use and find its customer service team to be supportive and helpful.
What is ethical investing?
Put simply, ethical investing is when you consider the impact your investments make socially and environmentally. You don’t need to sacrifice profits when you invest ethically either. In the IA Global sector, home to the most ESG strategies, the average ESG fund made a 10.1% total return over the first 8 months of 2020, compared to just 4.09% for conventional peers, as we found in our whitepaper: ESG: Is the investing landscape changing for good?.
Is CIRCA5000 safe?
CIRCA5000 app is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as a representative of Met Facilities LLP. Users’ money is held in a custody account managed by CIRCA5000’s custodian Third Platform Services, which is also regulated by the FCA. Along with this, your money is protected up to the value of £85,000 by the Financial Compensation Scheme (FSCS) if CIRCA5000 goes bust.
As well as protecting your finances, CIRCA5000 uses a 256-bit TLS encryption to protect your personal information. Customer information is never shared with third parties without user consent.
Who is CIRCA5000 for?
CIRCA5000 is suitable for you if:
- You want to invest ethically
- You want to invest in ready made portfolios
- You want to invest small sums
If you want to choose your own investments, you might prefer a share trading platform like Freetrade or Trading 212.
What are the pros and cons of CIRCA5000?
Pros
- Focus on ethical investing
- Low cost
Cons
- CIRCA5000 is mobile access only
- Limited ETFs and market access
Our verdict: Is CIRCA5000 any good?
For those looking to invest in a more ethical manner, CIRCA5000 provides an opportunity to invest in companies that are trying to make a difference in the world. CIRCA5000 is still pretty new and currently only has a couple of products on offer, but it’s worth checking out and keeping track of.
Get started by visiting CIRCA5000 and opening an account. Still not sure? Compare other share trading platforms with our comparison table.
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All investing should be regarded as longer term. The value of your investments can go up and down, and you may get back less than you invest. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. If you’re not sure which investments are right for you, please seek out a financial adviser. Capital at risk.
Frequently asked questions
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