Decision time

How to employ ethical considerations when making financial decisions? Rita Marcangelo, a publications coordinator from Barnet explains.

I like to think that ethical considerations have played an important role in influencing my decisions - weighed up against the financial bottom line. My mortgage is an example - I was already banking with The Co-operative Bank because I knew that it took ethical and social considerations into account when investing in companies. It also offers an energy-efficiency survey with its mortgage.

The pension that my employer offers is with Norwich Union. Like a lot of people, I'm quite confused when it comes to pensions! I was making a judgement as to which type I wanted with quite limited knowledge. It was only going to be an educated guess, so I thought I might as well invest in something ethical rather than non-ethical.

The option that I have got is UK ethical equity finance. I can choose the category of companies I invest in and I chose the category of companies with the best sustainability rating. These are most likely to be contributing to positive environmental solutions. You also have the option of not investing in companies that do animal testing, which I took.