ESG Investing With JPMorgan Personal Investing

Last updated: 10 June 2026

By Stiv · Design, technology and personal finance

This is an opinion piece. Views expressed are the author's own and do not constitute professional advice.

Cool Factor: 3/5

ESG investing with JPMorgan Personal Investing gives UK investors a managed, hands-off way to back companies with stronger environmental, social, and governance credentials. I hold several pots on the platform myself, all set to the socially responsible investing (SRI) style at the maximum risk level, so this is a view from real use. The portfolios are transparent and backed by MSCI analytics. But when the platform sits under JPMorgan Chase, named the world's largest financier of fossil fuels, the contradiction is hard to ignore. Here is my take.

This ESG investing JPMorgan review is based on my own pots in the SRI style, plus a close look at the methodology and the wider context, rather than on marketing copy.

This article contains affiliate or referral links. If you click through and sign up I may earn a commission or referral bonus at no extra cost to you. It does not affect my editorial view.

Capital at risk. The value of investments can go down as well as up and you may get back less than you invested. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results.

What is ESG investing with JPMorgan?

JPMorgan Personal Investing offers a dedicated Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) style. It's available across every product on the platform: Stocks and Shares ISA, Lifetime ISA, Junior ISA, Personal Pension, and General Investment Account.

The SRI portfolios overweight companies with stronger ESG profiles. They also exclude those involved in controversial activities such as tobacco, weapons, and thermal coal extraction. JPMorgan describes the style as a way to "prioritise ESG leaders in your portfolio while limiting companies involved in controversial activities". You pick a risk level from 1 to 10, and JPMorgan's investment team handles asset allocation, fund selection, and rebalancing. Like all their managed styles, the SRI option invests through a globally diversified mix of ETFs.

The platform was previously known as Nutmeg, one of the UK's original robo-advisors. JPMorgan Chase acquired Nutmeg in 2021 and rebranded it in November 2025. The SRI style has been available since 2018, predating the acquisition. For a full overview of the platform, covering fees, app, and sign-up, see my JPMorgan Personal Investing review. This piece focuses on the ESG angle specifically.

For peace of mind, JPMorgan Personal Investing is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN 552016), and eligible investments are protected up to £85,000 per person per FCA-authorised firm by the FSCS. Tax treatment depends on your individual circumstances and may change in future.

First impressions of ESG investing with JPMorgan

Setting up an SRI portfolio is straightforward. The onboarding flow is the same as any other JPMorgan Personal Investing style. You pick your product type, choose SRI as your investment style, set a risk level (I went for the maximum, 10 out of 10), and fund it. The minimum is £500 (or £100 for a Lifetime ISA).

What stood out immediately on my own pots is the ESG scoring. Once you're invested, you can see four MSCI scores at the portfolio level: an overall ESG rating plus individual breakdowns for environmental, social, and governance. I find it a useful feature. You can compare your SRI portfolio directly against a non-SRI equivalent and see exactly where the differences lie.

On my own pots, that overall ESG score sits at 8.142 out of 10, shown on a clear ESG card that holds your portfolio up against an overall score. That's not bad at all, although the perfectionist in me would love to see it nearer 9.99.

The interface is clean and doesn't overwhelm you with jargon. For a product category often bogged down in vague promises and greenwash, this transparency is refreshing.

The detail: how the ESG scoring works

The SRI portfolios use MSCI ESG Research to score and screen holdings. MSCI is one of the largest standardised ESG rating frameworks globally, covering thousands of companies and issuers worldwide. The scoring measures how well companies manage key risks and opportunities across environmental impact, social policies, and governance structures.

In practice, the portfolios tilt towards higher-scoring companies and apply exclusions for the most controversial sectors. JPMorgan publishes a detailed SRI whitepaper explaining the full methodology, scoring system, and exclusion criteria. It's worth reading before you commit.

Does responsible investing mean weaker returns? The picture is mixed. US sustainable funds lagged conventional peers on average through a turbulent 2024, yet they bounced back in the first half of 2025, posting median returns of 12.5% against 9.2% for traditional funds. Over the longer run, $100 invested in a sustainable fund in December 2018 would have grown to roughly $154 by mid-2025, versus $145 for a traditional fund, according to the Morgan Stanley Institute for Sustainable Investing using Morningstar data. So the old idea that going green automatically costs you returns doesn't really hold, although performance still varies year to year. You can also view JPMorgan's own SRI track record. Past performance is never a guarantee of future returns.

How my own SRI pots have done

For real numbers from a real account: my longest-running SRI pot, opened in September 2021, is up 43.33% on a time-weighted basis and 47.67% as a simple return, while a newer SRI pot from May 2024 is up 33.74% time-weighted and 19.69% simple. Both figures come straight from the app as of June 2026, and I run everything at the maximum risk level, so expect bigger swings than a cautious portfolio would see. I explain what time-weighted and simple returns mean, and share my pension and Lifetime ISA figures, in my full JPMorgan Personal Investing review. Please treat these as context, not a promise: past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results, returns change all the time, and there's no guarantee of profit. You can get back less than you invest.

The fossil fuel elephant in the room

Here's where ESG investing with JPMorgan gets complicated. JPMorgan Chase, the parent company, is consistently identified as the world's largest financier of fossil fuels.

The 2025 Banking on Climate Chaos report found that JPMorgan Chase committed $53.5 billion to fossil fuel companies in 2024 alone. That places it at the top of global rankings. The report, produced by Rainforest Action Network, BankTrack, Reclaim Finance, Oil Change International, and others, also found that the world's 65 largest banks increased fossil fuel financing by $162.5 billion year-on-year, reversing a two-year downward trend.

Search engine Ecosia flags this too. If you search for JPMorgan on Ecosia, a fossil fuel plant icon appears beside the result. Ecosia's Green Search feature draws on data from Urgewald's Global Oil & Gas Exit List, the Climate Accountability Institute, and Banking on Climate Chaos to highlight companies connected to fossil fuel activity. JPMorgan Chase is among those flagged, alongside other major banks like Barclays and HSBC.

In February 2024, J.P. Morgan Asset Management also withdrew from Climate Action 100+, the collaborative investor initiative focused on pressing the world's largest emitters to act on climate. JPMorgan said it had built its own stewardship capabilities. The move drew criticism from environmental groups.

Does this affect the SRI portfolios?

The SRI portfolios apply ESG screening at the fund and holding level. The companies inside your portfolio are filtered by MSCI. That process is separate from JPMorgan Chase's corporate banking operations. So the product itself applies genuine screening.

However, the management fees you pay go to JPMorgan Personal Investing, a subsidiary of JPMorgan Chase. If ESG alignment matters to you at the corporate level, not just the portfolio level, it's a tension worth weighing. I'm not making legal or moral claims about JPMorgan Chase as a business. Instead, I'm noting that multiple independent, well-sourced reports place the bank at the top of global fossil fuel financing tables. Only you can decide how much weight to give that. For me, holding SRI pots while the parent finances fossil fuels is an uneasy compromise I keep under review.

A socially responsible portfolio, run by a subsidiary of the world's largest fossil-fuel financier. That contradiction is the whole story.

Value for money

The SRI style sits under JPMorgan's managed fee tier: 0.75% annually on the first £100,000, dropping to 0.35% above that. There are no setup, exit, or trading fees. On top of the management fee, though, you also pay the underlying fund costs and market spread, as with any managed portfolio. My main review breaks down the fee structure in full detail, and the official JPMorgan fees page sets out the full schedule.

At that price point, it's not the cheapest way to invest responsibly. If you're happy picking your own ESG-focused ETFs, a DIY platform will cost significantly less. However, if you want a professional team to handle selection, screening, and rebalancing, and you value MSCI-backed transparency, the fee is reasonable for what you get. The free financial guidance calls are a genuine bonus most competitors don't match.

Honest critical observations

No product is perfect, so here's where ESG investing with JPMorgan falls short in my view. Firstly, the SRI style is a tilt and a screen, not a purist rebuild. It leans towards higher-scoring companies and drops the worst offenders, yet it won't strip out everything you might object to. You can see that in the holdings: when I drill into my own SRI pots, the top names are the likes of Nvidia, Broadcom and Tesla, and I once spotted Amazon in there too (it's not in my current top 10). A socially responsible label still leaves you holding plenty of giant tech, so it's worth a look under the bonnet before you assume "ESG" means something narrower than it does.

Secondly, the 0.75% managed fee isn't the cheapest route to responsible investing. A confident DIY investor could buy ESG-focused ETFs for far less. Thirdly, you can't fine-tune the exclusions yourself, because the team sets the methodology, not you.

Finally, the parent-company contradiction I cover above remains the biggest sticking point for values-driven investors.

The verdict

ESG investing with JPMorgan Personal Investing is a well-executed, transparent service. The SRI portfolios do what they claim: tilt your money towards companies with stronger ESG credentials while screening out the worst offenders. The MSCI scoring gives you real visibility, the long-term returns data is reassuring, and the user experience is straightforward.

But the irony is hard to escape. You're investing in a socially responsible portfolio managed by a subsidiary of the world's biggest fossil fuel financier. For some investors, the product-level screening is enough. For others, the parent company's track record is a dealbreaker. Neither position is wrong; it depends on where you draw the line.

Cool Factor

★★★☆☆

3 out of 5

Overall, a solid 3/5 Cool. The SRI product is well-designed and backed by credible methodology, earning its score through genuine transparency, strong MSCI integration, and a clean user experience. But it can't reach Stone cold when the parent company's fossil fuel financing record sits in such stark contradiction with the product's purpose. If JPMorgan Chase's wider operations shifted meaningfully on climate, this score would go up.

Capital at risk. The value of investments can go down as well as up and you may get back less than you invested. This is my opinion, not financial advice.

If you'd like to try the SRI style, J.P. Morgan Personal Investing currently offers new customers 6 months of investing with no management fees when you sign up via the link on our referral page. Underlying fund charges and market spread still apply during the fee-free period. Offers change, so we keep the latest one on our JPMorgan Personal Investing referral page. Capital at risk. Terms and conditions apply.

See the JPMorgan referral offer

Or read more about how the service works on our JPMorgan Personal Investing service guide.

Capital at risk. The value of investments can go down as well as up and you may get back less than you invested. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. Rates, fees, offers and terms can change over time. This review is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. CoolCuration is not authorised by the FCA to provide investment recommendations. Tax treatment depends on the individual circumstances of each client and may be subject to change in future. ISA and pension eligibility rules apply. Always do your own research or consider a qualified financial adviser before making investment decisions. This article contains affiliate or referral links: if you click through and sign up I may earn a commission or referral bonus at no extra cost to you, and it does not affect my editorial view.

Frequently asked questions

What does JPMorgan's SRI portfolio exclude?

The SRI portfolios exclude companies involved in tobacco, weapons, thermal coal extraction, and other controversial activities. The full methodology is published in JPMorgan's SRI whitepaper.

Is JPMorgan really the world's biggest fossil fuel financier?

According to the 2025 Banking on Climate Chaos report, JPMorgan Chase committed $53.5 billion to fossil fuel companies in 2024. That placed it at the top of global rankings. Ecosia's Green Search feature also highlights JPMorgan with a fossil fuel icon, drawing on data from Urgewald and the Climate Accountability Institute.

Does the fossil fuel financing affect my SRI portfolio?

The SRI portfolios apply ESG screening at the fund and holding level through MSCI. That process is separate from JPMorgan Chase's corporate banking activity. However, the fees you pay go to a JPMorgan subsidiary. Whether the parent company's operations concern you is a personal call.

Will ESG investing give me worse returns?

Not necessarily. US sustainable funds lagged conventional peers on average in 2024 but outperformed in the first half of 2025, and over 2018 to mid-2025 a sustainable fund modestly beat a traditional one, according to the Morgan Stanley Institute for Sustainable Investing using Morningstar data. Past performance is never a guarantee, but the data doesn't support the idea that responsible investing automatically means lower returns.

Can I open an ISA with JPMorgan's SRI option?

Yes. The SRI style is available for Stocks and Shares ISA, Lifetime ISA, Junior ISA, Personal Pension, and General Investment Account. The minimum is £500, or £100 for a Lifetime ISA. Tax treatment depends on your individual circumstances and may change in future.

Are there alternatives to JPMorgan for ESG investing?

Several UK platforms offer ESG options, including Wealthify and Moneybox for managed portfolios. If you'd rather pick your own ESG ETFs on a DIY platform, our cheapest investment app UK guide compares fees across providers.

Is JPMorgan Personal Investing the same as Nutmeg?

Yes. JPMorgan Chase acquired Nutmeg in 2021 and rebranded it in November 2025. The products, team, and portfolios carried over. If you had a Nutmeg ESG portfolio, it's now an SRI portfolio under JPMorgan Personal Investing.