Circa5000

CIRCA5000 is an app-based investment platform that offers commission-free Stocks & Shares ISAs and General Investment Accounts. Users can buy fractional shares in a curated list of 200+ global companies and exchange-traded funds, all pre-screened for positive environmental or social impact. Minimum deposit is £5; fees are 0.45 %–0.65 % platform AUM plus fund charges, placing the service in the mid-price robo-advice tier and keeping it online-only. The firm’s entire universe is mapped to the UN SDGs; every listed security must derive at least 50 % revenue from renewable energy, clean water, medical access, education, or circular economy activities. Its “People” and “Planet” ETF bundles, built with Legal & General and BlackRock, have become shorthand retail products for thematic impact investing in the U.K. CIRCA5000 further distinguishes itself by publishing impact metrics—tonnes of CO₂ avoided, patients treated, waste recycled—inside the app for each investor portfolio. Core customers are 25-40-year-old U.K. professionals who want market returns without compromising climate or social values. They tend to bank with Monzo or Starling, use Moneybox or Plum for micro-savings, and choose CIRCA5000 when they are ready to move from cash ISAs to equities while retaining an ethical filter. Competitors include other app-based robo-advisers and low-cost brokers, most of which either offer broad ESG scores or leave ethical filtering to the user. CIRCA5000 differentiates by making strict impact criteria the default, not an optional overlay, and by coupling this with fractional trading, ISA flexibility, and transparent impact data aimed at first-time equity investors.