Sustainable Investing | ESG Investment Portfolios

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Sustainable portfolios

Invest with a more sustainable aim

HSBC Global Strategy Sustainable Portfolios aim to include investments that have a higher ESG score and lower carbon intensity than their market average.

This means they aim to offer better environmental, social and governance scores than the average investment, and produce less carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases (CO2e) per unit of activity.

Today we finance a number of industries that significantly contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. We have a strategy to help our customers to reduce their emissions and to reduce our own.

Remember, investing has its ups and downs – so you could get back less than you invest. Eligibility criteria and fees apply. Before you invest, make sure you have some money to fall back in case of any emergencies. This should ideally be 3-6 months of living costs.

Take a closer look

Mix of global investments

Each portfolio contains a mix of investments from over 50 different countries, giving you access to a world of opportunities.

Managed by specialists

Your portfolio will be managed by our investment specialists. Just choose your preferred level of risk and they'll take care of the rest.

Choose your risk level

Choose your risk level then rest easy knowing our specialists aim to keep your investments within it.

Invest in a few steps

You can invest here on the website or from your app. Then, track and manage your portfolio in the app, wherever you are.

What makes our portfolios sustainable?

Our investment specialists, HSBC Global Asset Management, work out whether to invest in a company by scoring them against 3 sets of criteria – environmental, social and governance factors, known as 'ESG'.

Environmental – how the company impacts the environment. This includes carbon emissions, energy efficiency and its approach to climate change.
Social – how the company supports its employees, clients and communities. This includes customer satisfaction, gender diversity, racial and social justice, alongside equality and inclusion.
Governance – how the company is run. This includes responsible business ethics and culture, financial reporting and pay structure.

HSBC Global Asset Management use internal research and data from third-parties to ensure at least 70% of the net asset value of the portfolios are invested across assets they consider to be sustainable. However, they can't certify third-party ESG measurement criteria themselves. The portfolios also contain some assets they don't define as sustainable.

You can see the ESG scores of each portfolio and their carbon footprint in the portfolio factsheet PDF.

Keep in mind, there's currently no standard definition of 'sustainable investing'. Other providers may define it differently to the way we do. This means that you may find it hard to compare investments on a like-for-like basis.

It's also important to note that:

the benchmarks for sustainable investments may be different to those of regular investments
a sustainable portfolio may produce different returns to those that don’t consider these factors
there’s no guarantee that investing in a sustainable portfolio will match your personal sustainability ambition

Read more about sustainable investing

More reasons to invest

Start investing with £50

Invest in a portfolio today with £50.
Invest with an ISA

Invest up to £20,000 this tax year with a stocks & shares ISA, without paying UK income or capital gains tax on any income or growth.

Make regular investments

Set up regular payments from £50 per month after your first investment.
Your money’s not locked away

You should aim to invest for at least 5 years. But if you need to, you can sell your investments and the money will usually be in your account within 4 business days.

The value of tax benefits will depend on your circumstances and tax rules may change in the future.

Who can apply?

You can apply for a sustainable portfolio if:

you’ve got an HSBC current account or savings account (excluding the Online Bonus Saver and Fixed-rate Saver)
you’re at least 18 years old
you're a UK resident – for tax purposes
you’re not a US national/citizen/resident (eg a US passport holder)
you've got at least £50 to invest

Ready to invest?

Here's how you get started:

1. Decide how you feel about risk

Select the portfolio with the risk level you're most comfortable with. Risk level 1 is the lowest and 5 is the highest. This indicates the investment's potential risk and reward.

2. Choose which account you'd like to apply for

Select a stocks & shares ISA or a general investment account (GIA) to apply

Stocks & shares ISA (Individual Savings Account)

This is an account that you can open for your investments.

You can invest up to £20,000 each tax year without paying any UK income tax or capital gains tax on any income or growth.

You can open a stocks & shares ISA if:

you don’t already have a stocks & shares ISA for the current tax year (you can still have a cash ISA or another type of ISA)
you’ve not reached your £20,000 ISA limit for the current tax year

Keep in mind, tax rules can also change and any benefits will depend on your individual circumstances.

General investment account (GIA)

A general investment account is a basic investment account with no tax-efficiencies. You can choose to open a GIA if:

you already have another stocks & shares ISA this tax year, or
you've reached the overall £20,000 ISA limit
this is your preferred option

Use these descriptions to help you decide how you feel about risk. Then, choose the portfolio with the risk level that best suits you.

Very low – you're generally ok with a very low level of potential return on your investment, along with a very low risk of investment loss.

Low – you're generally ok with a low level of potential return on your investment, along with a low risk of investment loss.

Balanced – you're generally ok with a medium level of potential return on your investment, along with a medium risk of investment loss.

High – you're generally ok with a high level of potential return on your investment, along with a high risk of investment loss.

Very High – you're generally ok with a very high level of potential return on your investment, along with a very high risk of investment loss.

There's no cost to open a stocks & shares ISA or a general investment account. And there's no cost to withdraw money from your investments.

There will be ongoing charges for as long as you hold your investment, which we'll automatically take each quarter. For example:

Account fees: we charge an annual service fee of 0.25% for the running of your investment portfolio.
Other charges: fund managers also apply an annual management charge and other expenses. These will vary depending on the portfolio you choose.

Before investing, you can read the 'Costs and Charges' PDF for an estimate of the charges that may apply for that portfolio.

The charts are correct as of 30 November 2022. For more information on the latest make-up of the portfolios, you can read the relevant 'Factsheet' PDF.

Cautious

Risk level: 1 out of 5

The Cautious fund is invested across global markets with a strong bias towards bonds.

Cautious Portfolio costs and charges (PDF, 276 KB)

Cautious Portfolio factsheet (PDF, 450 KB)

Apply for an ISA (Cautious Portfolio) This link will open in a new window

Apply for a GIA (Cautious Portfolio) This link will open in a new window

Conservative

Risk level: 2 out of 5

The Conservative fund is invested across global markets with a bias towards bonds.

Conservative Portfolio costs and charges (PDF, 276 KB)

Conservative Portfolio factsheet (PDF, 451 KB)

Apply for an ISA (Conservative Portfolio) This link will open in a new window

Apply for a GIA (Conservative Portfolio) This link will open in a new window

Balanced

Risk level: 3 out of 5

The Balanced fund is invested across global markets with a spread of asset types.

Balanced Portfolio costs and charges (PDF, 276 KB)

Balanced Portfolio factsheet (PDF, 449 KB)

Apply for an ISA (Balanced Portfolio) This link will open in a new window

Apply for a GIA (Balanced Portfolio) This link will open in a new window

Dynamic

Risk level: 4 out of 5

The Dynamic fund is invested across global markets with a bias towards equities.

Dynamic Portfolio costs and charges (PDF, 276 KB)

Dynamic Portfolio factsheet (PDF, 448 KB)

Apply for an ISA (Dynamic Portfolio) This link will open in a new window

Apply for a GIA (Dynamic Portfolio) This link will open in a new window

Adventurous

Risk level: 5 out of 5

The Adventurous fund is invested across global markets with a strong bias towards equities.

Adventurous Portfolio costs and charges (PDF, 276 KB)

Adventurous Portfolio factsheet (PDF, 449 KB)

Apply for an ISA (Adventurous Portfolio) This link will open in a new window

Apply for a GIA (Adventurous Portfolio) This link will open in a new window

Frequently asked questions

As well as internal research, our investment specialists, HSBC Global Asset Management, use research and data from third-party providers.

Here’s a list of the providers we currently use, correct as of 12 June 2023:

MSCI ESG Research: Intangible value ESG assessment, comprehensive ESG assessment and financial crime compliance screening. We use MSCI because of their wide coverage of issuers and sector specific methodology.
ISS Ethix: Identifying issuers involved in the production and/or marketing of controversial banned weapons like cluster munitions and landmines.
ISS ESG: Government bonds' environmental and societal assessment. ISS is one of the only providers covering government bonds.
S&P Trucost: Quantitative environmental data to measure the carbon footprint of companies, issuers and our funds.
Sustainalytics: UNGC compliance and revenues from controversial and sustainable products and activities.
RepRisk: Tracking companies' reputational risk and involvement in ESG-related controversies (implementation in progress). Provides an ongoing view of issuer’s ESG performance, risks, and controversies.
FTSE Green Revenues: Provides revenues breakdown from green activity and its material impact on the bottom line for approximately 3,000 companies.
Carbon4Finance: Measures carbon emission savings to help understand a company’s strategic and financial commitment to a low-carbon transition.
Iceberg Datalab: Corporate Biodiversity footprint measure over 2,000 companies.
GAIA research: Overall ESG assessment over 2,000 European small and mid-cap companies.
Denominator: Denominator provides fact-based standards and transparency through the world's largest Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI) database, covering both privately-held and publicly-listed entities. It provides data on 15 dimensions of DEI, including gender, race, education, age, health, disability, etc.

Our team of experts at HSBC Global Asset Management track the risk and performance of the assets in your portfolio. They'll also adjust the investments according to the risk profile.

Their goal will always be to get the optimal return within your risk level.

A ready-made portfolio invests in a mix of assets, bonds and equities, which are types of investments.

And, an asset is a group of investments that have similar financial characteristics.

The 4 types of assets that a fund could invest in are:

equities – shares in other companies
bonds – fixed income government bonds or corporate bonds
property – also known as alternatives
cash – pooled money can also be invested as a way to lower risk

Our portfolios combine a varying mix of assets to help spread the risk of your investment.

You can track your portfolio's performance and manage your investment straight through the app. Just select 'Investments' on your account screen to get started.

Or, read our step-by-step guide to learn how to manage your investments via online banking.

Sustainable portfolios

Invest with a more sustainable aim

Take a closer look

Mix of global investments

Managed by specialists

Choose your risk level

Invest in a few steps

What makes our portfolios sustainable?

More reasons to invest

Start investing with £50

Invest with an ISA

Make regular investments

Your money’s not locked away

Who can apply?

Ready to invest?

1. Decide how you feel about risk

2. Choose which account you'd like to apply for

What's a stocks & shares ISA or a general investment account (GIA)?

What do we mean by 'risk level'?

What does it cost?

Cautious

Conservative

Balanced

Dynamic

Adventurous

Frequently asked questions

How does HSBC work out whether to invest in a company?

How will the portfolio stay at my risk level?

What do we mean by assets, bonds and equities?

How do I manage my portfolio?

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Regular portfolios

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