Nutmeg

How ethical and sustainable is Nutmeg?

Nutmeg is included in The Good Shopping Guide’s Ethical Pensions Ratings Table. Nutmeg has yet to meet our ethical standards, but we believe that in the future, the brand will make the necessary changes to function as a more ethical organisation. Nutmeg might increase consumer trust by applying for Ethical Accreditation, which would include a more complete and thorough ethical examination and suggestions for sustainability and CSR development.

More information on the necessity of Ethical Pensions may be found in The Good Shopping Guide to Ethical Pension Companies.Then, in our Ethical Pension Rating Table, compare it to other Pension providers.

What does Nutmeg do?

Nutmeg is owned by JP Morgan Chase & Co, it is a UK pension provider and is the UK’s first online discretionary investment management company. They offer pensions, ISAs and general investment accounts.

For which criteria does Nutmeg perform poorly? 
Nutmeg received a low rating for Environmental Destruction, Irresponsible Lending and Political Donations. The pension provider’s parent company JPMorgan Chase was listed as one of the top 40 investors in companies linked to amazon deforestation in a report by Amazon Watch after providing ~$532 million to environmentally destructive mining companies in recent years. The brand also contributed over $300 billion in financing fossil fuel companies since the Paris Agreement. Read more on this environmental story here.

The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons exposed JPMorgan Chase for the financing of nuclear weapons after contributing a total of $32.5 million; read more on this report of nuclear weaponry here.

The company also donated $10 million in recent election cycles. As it is unclear who manages Nutmegs funds they receive a middle rating for its Responsible Investment Policy.

Past Criticisms of Nutmeg’s ethical record

Nutmeg faced criticism after its parent company paid $200 million in fines after admitting to ‘widespread’ record-keeping failures in recent years after employees used personal devices to send company information; find out more about this example of irresponsible data management.

In what areas does Nutmeg score well for its ethics?

Nutmeg receives a high score for its Environmental Report and Carbon Disclosure & Reduction Targets. JPMorgan has a page with operational commitments which contains multiple targets discussing e-waste, renewable energy and water consumption. The brand discusses Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions on JPMorgan’s sustainability pages. JPMorgan also has a ‘Paris-aligned Financing Commitment’ which comments on GHG reduction targets and alignment with the Paris agreement.

How can Nutmeg improve its Ethical Rating?

The Ethical Rating of a brand is divided into three research and ratings categories by The Good Shopping Guide: the Environment, People and Animals.

Nutmeg could apply for Ethical Accreditation at for more detailed guidance on how to improve and become one of the most ethical and best pension providers.

Nutmeg may improve its rating and fulfil our fundamental ethical requirements by a review of its parent company’s financial decisions and which companies they choose to support.

Why not check out The Good Shopping Guide’s Ethical Accreditation if you work for or with a Pension company seeking to improve its CSR or gain an independent sustainability certification? This certification of sustainability and ethics has benefited the pension provider, Aviva.

Contact us to learn more about Ethical Accreditation, or complete our short form for an initial evaluation of brand ethics and sustainability.