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 (UK) Limited, 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 'ESG and 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 ESG and sustainable investments may be different to those of regular investments
an ESG or sustainable portfolio may produce different returns to those that don’t consider these factors
there’s no guarantee that investing in an ESG or 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 with £50 and choose to set up regular payments after your first investment.
Invest with an ISA

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

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.

An award-winning way to invest

Invest straight through your app

We're delighted to have won awards for how easy it is to invest through our app and for our dedicated investment customer service.

Why not try investing with the app yourself?

Just open scroll past your accounts in the app and select 'Investments' to get started.

Who can apply?

You can invest in a ready-made portfolio if:

You’ve got an HSBC current account or savings account (excluding the Online Bonus Saver, Fixed-rate Saver and any HSBC Cash ISAs)
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 or green card holder)
You've got at least £50 to invest

Need support applying?

If you think you might need support before making an investment decision, we can help you get specialist investment support.

Ready to invest?

Here's how to 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.

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.

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)

A stocks & shares ISA 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 an HSBC stocks & shares ISA if:

You don’t already have an HSBC or first direct stocks & shares ISA for the current tax year (you can still have previously subscribed to an HSBC or first direct cash ISA. or to any ISA with another provider)
You’ve not reached your £20,000 ISA limit for the current tax year
You can provide your National Insurance number or confirm you’re not eligible to apply for one

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 with HSBC lets you invest without opening an ISA, but has no tax-efficiencies.

Unlike with an ISA, you may need to pay UK income tax and capital gains tax on any income or growth you make on your investment.

You can choose to open an HSBC GIA if:

You’ve already subscribed to another HSBC or first direct stocks & shares ISA this current tax year, or
You've reached the overall £20,000 ISA limit
This is your preferred option

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

The charts are correct as of 30 November 2023. For more information on the latest make-up of the portfolios, you can read the relevant 'Factsheet' PDF.

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.

Cash ISA age limit

From 6 April 2024, there were changes to how old you need to be to open a cash ISA.

To open a new cash ISA, you need to be either:

18 years old or over, or
Covered by the transitional arrangements for those aged 16 or 17 (as of 5 April 2024), which is in place until 5 April 2026 - please note, ISA providers aren't obliged to offer the transitional arrangements and HSBC didn’t adopt these

Subscribing to more than one of the same type of ISA

If you're aged 18 or over, you're now able to subscribe to more than one of the same type of ISA in the same tax year – subject to staying within the overall annual limit.

For example, you could subscribe to a cash or stocks & shares ISA with one ISA provider and also subscribe to one with a different provider.

This change doesn’t apply to Lifetime ISAs, where it's still only possible to subscribe to one Lifetime ISA in a tax year. HSBC doesn't offer Lifetime ISAs.

From 6 April 2024, ISA rules were amended to allow subscriptions to more than one ISA of the same type in the same tax year with the same provider. These were optional changes, and HSBC are not offering this. This means that you can only subscribe to one stocks and shares ISA and one cash ISA with HSBC or first direct in the same tax year.

Other optional changes that not all providers implemented

If you've gone a whole tax year without making a subscription to an existing ISA, some providers will allow you to restart subscriptions without needing to complete a new application. HSBC are not currently allowing this.

Since 6 April 2024, some providers allow you to make a partial transfer of subscriptions made in the current tax year, but HSBC are not currently allowing this.

We'll update our website if we make any changes to our ISAs in the future.

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

What does it cost?

An award-winning way to invest

Invest straight through your app

Who can apply?

Need support applying?

Ready to invest?

1. Decide how you feel about risk

What do we mean by 'risk level'?

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

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

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?

How did ISAs change in the 2024/2025 tax year?

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