The recent developments on the global stock markets inevitably impact the share prices of the companies invested within the Triodos Impact funds. Triodos Investment Management is monitoring the situation closely and, as normal, looking at both the financial and sustainability performance of the companies in the fund portfolios to ensure they continue to meet the financial and sustainable objectives of the funds. We are clear with all customers that the value of investments can go down as well as up and that investing should be considered for the long term.

There are different levels of risk associated with each fund offered. You must read all supporting documentation for each fund to make sure you can make an informed investment decision.

• The Triodos SICAV I Key Investor Information Document shows a risk scale between 1 to 7 (with 7 as higher risk) - the Triodos Global Equities Impact Fund is defined as level 5 and the Triodos Pioneer Impact Fund as level 6.

If you are unsure as to the appropriateness or suitability of investing in the funds and/or with Triodos Bank, you should contact an independent financial advisor. The value of investments and the income derived from them may go down as well as up and you may not get back the amount originally invested.

By opening a Triodos Ethical Stocks and Shares ISA you can invest in either or both of our impact investment funds:

• Triodos Global Equities Impact Fund
  
• Triodos Pioneer Impact Fund
  

The term Savings describes accounts in which you deposit money and earn a set rate of interest, such as our Cash ISA or Saver accounts. Triodos Bank only lends deposited money to organisations that are making a positive environmental, social or cultural impact, and we publish details of every organisation we lend to on our website.

The term Investments refers to accounts in which you can buy assets such as shares in stock market listed companies. With all investments your capital is at risk and you may not get back the full amount you invested and investments should be considered for the long term i.e. 5 years or more. Payment of income or interest is variable and not guaranteed.

Like with our Savings accounts, all Investments made via Triodos Bank are used to support businesses that are making a positive environmental, social or cultural impact and we publish details of all the investments we make. For example, through the Triodos Impact Investment Funds you can invest in a diverse portfolio of stock market listed shares and we publish the entire portfolio of both funds on our website:

• Triodos Global Equities Fund
  
• Triodos Pioneer Impact Fund
  

Triodos Investment Management is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Triodos Bank, and have been active in the sustainable investment sector for over 25 years. Triodos Investment Management manage investments ranging from sustainable energy infrastructure to microfinance institutions, and individuals in the UK can invest in the Triodos Global Equities Impact Fund, Triodos Pioneer Impact Fund and Microfinance Fund.

We apply a 0.4% annual service charge which is charged on a monthly basis. The annual service charge is expressed as an annual percentage and is calculated monthly based on the value of your holdings on the last business day of the month. On the first business day of the new month shares will be sold to cover the charge. By Business Day we mean any day on which banks are open for business in Luxembourg and the UK i.e. any day other than Saturdays, Sundays or other public holidays.

Please be aware that the sale of shares to cover the annual service charge is classified as a disposal for Capital Gains Tax purposes and may need to be declared to HMRC.
The annual service charge will be itemised on your quarterly statement, which provides a breakdown of all charges applied over the previous quarter along with any additional trades during the period
There is also an Annual Management Charge (AMC) factored into the share price as part of the Ongoing Charges. The AMC is 0.75% for the Triodos Sustainable Equity Fund and 0.95% for the Triodos Sustainable Pioneer Fund.

When comparing investment fund charges in the market, you might come across the term Ongoing Charges or Total Expense Ratio (TER). They are both a type of cost calculation which estimates the total charges that will be taken from a fund throughout the year, including the AMC mentioned above. Details of what makes up Triodos Investment Managements Ongoing Charges and their maximum levels can be found in the Key Investor Information Documents (KIIDs) and Prospectus. What has actually been charged can be found in the Annual and Semi-annual reports.
*If you are investing more than £500,000 please call us on 0800 328 2181.

The Triodos Impact Investment Funds invest in stock market listed companies, so returns are variable and not guaranteed, and you may not get back the amount you originally invested.

Past performance figures for both funds can be found on our fund pages:

• Triodos Global Equities Impact Fund
  
• Triodos Pioneer Impact Fund
  

Please note that past performance is not a guide to future returns.

To sell your Triodos Impact Investment, you must send us a signed written instruction to:

Freepost RTAB-JGZR-BUHK
Triodos Bank
T. Bailey Fund Services Ltd
64-66 St James’s Street
Nottingham
NG1 6FJ

The proceeds of the sale will be sent to your nominated bank account within 3 business days of the dealing date.
Please note that if you are not selling the whole of your holding, a minimum fund balance of £500 applies. If your instruction takes the fund below that minimum balance we will try to contact you to establish how you would like to proceed, however if we are unable to contact you we reserve the right to reject your instruction pending further clarity.

You can choose to have any income generated by your investment in Triodos Impact Investment Funds automatically reinvested for capital growth or paid out to your nominated bank account. Please note that income is variable and not guaranteed.

To have any income generated automatically reinvested you should purchase capitalisation units, where any income generated is retained within the fund and reinvested, increasing the value of the units.

To have any income generated paid out you should purchase distribution units,  where income generated by the underlying holdings is distributed as a payment to your nominated bank account.

You can switch part or all of your holding to between units at any time by completing a switching form below.

You can use your ISA allowance by 'wrapping' your existing impact investment funds in our Ethical Stocks & Shares ISA, this is also known as a Bed and ISA. Within the Ethical Stocks & Shares ISA you benefit from no further tax on income and no capital gains tax. The benefits of an ISA depend on your individual circumstances and tax rules may change in the future.

To wrap your existing holding in an ISA it must be sold and repurchased. We do not charge for the sale or repurchase, however, you must adhere to the minimum investment amount of £1,000 and the minimum top up amount of £500 per fund.

Please note, when selling your holding outside of the ISA wrapper you will realise a capital gain or loss. Most people have a capital gains allowance of £12,000 (for the 2019/20 tax year), below which there is no charge on gains. If you happen to make a capital loss this can be used to offset future capital gains.

If you would like to wrap your holding in the Ethical Stocks & Shares ISA please download and print off the Ethical Stocks & Shares ISA Top Up form below.

Impact investing means investing in stock market listed companies following strict criteria on environmental, social and governance issues, as well as investing directly in sustainable businesses. We currently have two impact investment funds available in the UK, both of which can be wrapped in a Triodos Ethical Stocks and Shares ISA.

We believe our impact investment funds are a powerful means of promoting our objectives and working for greater sustainability, while enabling us to offer customers a wider range of attractive investment options.

Supplementary Information Document (SID): This document provides practical information, such as how to make investments with Triodos Bank, how to set up a stocks and shares ISA, charges on the fund and the on-going management of your stock. It also contains additional regulatory information on things like changing your mind, complaints and tax implications.

Some products and services are considered by Triodos Bank to be so detrimental to a sustainable society that we choose not to invest in them. We therefore apply a zero-tolerance threshold to companies that derive any direct revenue from four specific areas:

1. Hazardous substances
2. Nuclear energy
3. Unconventional oil and gas
4. Weapons

There are other products and services where we employ a 5% threshold. In this category of products and activities we include animal testing, tobacco production*, factory farming, pesticides, fur, pornography and gambling. Companies involved in those activities can be accepted for sustainable investment if their revenues from these activities are less than 5% of total revenues and in most cases additional policy requirements are obligatory. Triodos Bank considers that five per cent or less of total revenues derived from involvement in these industries to be minor. In our experience, companies that derive more than five per cent of their revenues from these products and services have usually made a deliberate choice to be involved in them. Within this five per cent threshold we therefore distinguish between companies that make a deliberate choice to be involved, and those that are involved because it’s a secondary or indirect activity, making it very difficult to eliminate completely.  It’s important to note that this acceptance must be alongside clear policy and adherence to codes, for example on pornography, strict rules around children and underage exposure would be required.

*the threshold is 10% for revenue from tobacco sales.

Yes with effect from 6 April 2019, we will be changing the bank account we use to accept electronic bank transfers to invest in the Triodos Impact Investment Funds and Triodos Microfinance Fund.

Our bank details can also be found in our terms and conditions, application and top-up forms on our website.

If you have previously made an electronic payment through your online banking and have saved the details as a payee, please ensure you update them before making any payments from 6 April 2019.

The funds are European SICAV funds, in euro, and in the UK they are made available for investment in Sterling.

Currency risk arises because the investments made by the funds are denominated in US dollars, euro and other foreign currencies. In principle the fund does not hedge the currency risk of these investments. As the UK share classes are offered in sterling, when comparing returns for these share classes to those generated for the euro share classes offered to European investors, returns will be affected by currency fluctuations between Sterling and the euro.

Sterling investment is converted to euro, then invested in various currencies by the fund. The returns on the fund are therefore in some part driven by the euro exchange rate compared to the currencies of countries invested in. The UK share classes are then impacted by the £/euro fluctuations when the fund performance is converted to sterling to calculate returns for UK share class holders.

Key Investor Information Document (KIID): Each fund share class has its own KIID. Its aim is to help you decide whether a particular fund meets your needs. It comes in a standardised format and contains specific information about the fund, such as its investment objectives and policy, the risk and reward profile of the investment. The KIID should be read in conjunction with the SID. You can download all these documents from the investment product pages:

• Triodos Global Equities Impact Fund
  
• Triodos Pioneer Impact Fund
  

The whole process of setting up your investment takes about four business days from the time that we receive your application and funds.

Decide how you want to invest

Choose whether to invest tax efficiently inside an ISA or outside an ISA. Choose how to receive any income generated. Income can to be paid out to you with distribution units or reinvested with capitalisation units and you’ll indicate your choices on the application form.

Complete and post your application form

Download the application form from our website, complete and return it to the free post address on the form.

Send money for your investment

Transfer or send a cheque for the amount you want to invest. If paying via electronic bank transfer, make sure your payment is sent from the same nominated bank account you put on your application form.

We’ll invest your money

Once we’ve received your cleared funds and application form we’ll invest your money. Applications and funds received before 10am will be dealt on the same day and priced at the next available valuation point - the Triodos Impact Investment Funds value every business day in the morning before European markets open.  Funds cleared after this time are placed at the next business day's dealing cut-off.

We’ll set up your account

Shortly after your deal has been placed we’ll send you a welcome pack with information about your new account, a contract note (confirming the price and date of your order) and our cancellation policy should you change your mind. If we have your email address, we’ll also send your Internet Banking username to you by email. You’ll then be able to log into your online account to see the details of your investments and the value of your shares.

With the money entrusted to the Triodos Impact Investment Funds comes the responsibility - and the power - to influence the way the companies in which we may invest do business. So, as a key element of our Impact Investment strategy, we pursue a policy of active engagement and dialogue, with the aim of raising awareness of sustainability, stimulating action and creating lasting change. We engage with companies during the selection process, through assessments, by monitoring companies after investment/selection (Triodos also engages and monitors the companies in the universe not only the ones that are in the portfolio) and as a shareholder through exercising voting rights and influencing other shareholders.

The annual service charge is collected by Triodos Bank UK to cover costs of providing our investment services, including ongoing administration costs.

The annual service charge is expressed as an annual percentage and is calculated monthly based on the value of your holdings on the last business day of the month. On the first business day of the new month shares will be sold to cover the charge. By Business Day we mean any day on which banks are open for business in Luxembourg and the UK i.e. any day other than Saturdays, Sundays or other public holidays

Please be aware that the sale of shares to cover the annual service charge is classified as a disposal for Capital Gains Tax purposes and may need to be declared to HMRC.

The annual service charge will be itemised on your quarterly statement, which provides a breakdown of all charges applied over the previous quarter along with any additional trades during the period.