CMC Invest, the stock trading platform launched last October, has jumped into the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) bandwagon and is displaying ESG data on its mobile investing app, for shares, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and investment trusts.
For funds like ETFs and investment trusts, the platform displays an overall sustainability rating, ESG risk scores, and the contentious product areas where the funds are involved. For shares, the data include ESG risk scores, a controversy category rating, and the contentious product areas where the company is and is not involved.
CMC Invest Sees Growing Demand for ESG Data
The new feature added by the platform earlier this month is aimed at providing ESG information to customers who consider ethical concerns along with profits. It has added two versions of the feature based on customer feedback and has a further enhancement due to go out in the next year.
"By bringing actionable data and insights to our customers, we can deliver a more personalized experience. We want everyone to achieve their long-term goals knowing their investments will continue to support their beliefs and principles," the Head of CMC Invest UK, Albert Soleiman, told Finance Magnates.
New ESG Features for CMC Invest
The platform added the ESG features following growing demand for such information among retail and institutional investors. BlackRock, which oversees $8 trillion in investments, announced major ESG-centric investment plans. Although the investment manager is facing backlash from a few major investors, it is still continuing the ESG stance.
Another survey in the UK by Finder found that 77 percent of Brits are now considering ethical investing. "This echoes our internal research, with customers telling us they want greater transparency around the impact companies have on the world and society. Clearly, awareness around sustainability, social responsibility, and ethics is continuing to grow," said Alister Sneddon, the Head of Product at CMC Invest.
CMC is not the only retail trading platform to bring ESG data to investors. Recently, Swissquote started to show such ESG data on many stocks offered by the platform. Additionally, other brokers agree with the growing demand around ESG when it comes to retail investing.
"It's no longer purely about maximizing a return; investors want to achieve long-term goals and help to deliver good outcomes that they are proud of. As such, investments are becoming a reflection of people's own values and principles," Sneddon said, adding that a growing female investor base has also pushed up the demand for ethical investing.
"Even in the advisor and fund manufacturing sector of the investment industry, we are witnessing a growing trend and pressure to deliver greater transparency to help customers have a positive impact. With 83% of consumers saying their personal ethics influence their buying decisions at least some of the time, we couldn't ignore the demand. Our mission is to always provide customers with the support and data to make informed decisions," Sneddon added.
Check out the recent London Summit session on "Social Impact & Innovation in Fintech ."
More Features to Come for CMC Invest
The London-headquartered group launched CMC Invest to offer US and UK-listed stocks. In addition, it has plans to expand its services by adding mutual funds, and a few other features. Though the CMC, as the group made, made strides into the ESG space, the latest move was the first major EGS initiative of the CMC Invest UK.
"We are looking to expand how we use this insightful data to drive more features and personalization for customers on the Invest platform, as well as for any of our B2B partners," Sneddon detailed.
Soleiman added: "We believe sustainability and ESG investing are the beginnings of a bigger trend… Over time, we expect to see an increase in impact investments, where not doing harm will no longer be the acceptable 'highest standard.' Instead, we'll see consumers pushing to proactively do good in the world and their communities through investing."
