Capital at risk
If you’re keen to help tackle climate change and make a difference in the world then ethical investing might be right for you. tickr is an investment app that lets you invest in more ethical companies through its range of ready made portfolios. We’ve compiled some of tickr’s features, what you can invest in and some pros and cons of tickr.
tickr 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, tickr 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 tickr to meet the growing demand for socially conscious investors.
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?.
In line with the socially conscious investment model that drives tickr, users can invest in companies that fit into one of the following “themes”. These themes are made up of exchange traded funds (ETFs).
The themes are broken down further into subcategories. For example, disruptive technology has three sub-categories: automation and robots, digitalisation and cybersecurity.
Once you’ve decided on the theme you’re interested in, 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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tickr offers several different types of account:
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.
An individual savings account (ISA) lets you invest up to your annual allowance without paying tax on your profits. The annual allowance for the 2021/2022 tax year is £20,000.
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 £12,300 in each tax year.
Other than this detail, the general investment account is no different to any other account.
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 2021/2022 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.
tickr 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 tickr’s fees:
| Fee name | Fee |
|---|---|
| Annual charge | £1 per month for all balances up to £3,000 and £1 per month + 0.3% on the portion above £3,000 |
| Fund costs | Approximately 0.30% |
| Bid offer spread | 0.14-0.20% |
| Opening and closing account | Free |
| Depositing and withdrawing money | Free |
| Trading costs | Free |
The tickr 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 tickr’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 tickr goes bust.
As well as protecting your finances, tickr uses a 256-bit TLS encryption to protect your personal information. Customer information is never shared with third parties without user consent.
tickr is suitable for you if:
If you want to choose your own investments, you might prefer a share trading platform like Freetrade or Trading 212.
For those looking to invest in a more ethical manner, tickr provides an opportunity to invest in companies that are trying to make a difference in the world. tickr 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 tickr and opening an account. Still not sure? Compare other share trading platforms with our comparison table.
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.
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