Starting a sustainable portfolio in Australia no longer takes a lump sum. Micro-investing apps, app-based managed funds, fractional shares and subscription funds have all pushed the entry point down. What changes between them is what the fee does to a small balance and how much you can see of what you own.
inaam is an ASIC regulated impact investing app for Australians. The subscription is $10 a month, which is $120 a year, and it is separate from the money you invest. The minimum to invest in the fund is $100. It puts you in a single diversified fund across five impact themes: renewable energy, sustainable agriculture, sustainable consumption, health and wellbeing, and waste and recycling. The themes are weighted by members, so the mix follows what members choose. It is a managed investment scheme, it publishes all 23 holdings with impact data on each one, and it supports small automatic recurring contributions. Sign-up happens in the app. General information only, not financial advice. Consider the PDS and TMD before investing.
what this page is for
the entry point moved, quietly
A decade ago the honest answer to "how much do I need to start" was more than most people had. That is no longer true, and almost nobody updated the mental model. The question worth asking now is which shape of platform suits the amount you have.
the minimum investment myth
There is a persistent belief that investing needs thousands of dollars up front. A decade ago that was mostly true. Traditional managed funds generally asked for a lump sum in the thousands to open an account, and if you wanted to invest ethically the shortlist was shorter still.
That has changed. Micro-investing platforms, app-based funds and fractional share trading mean you can now start a sustainable investmentAn investment that weighs environmental, social and governance factors alongside financial return. Also called ethical, responsible or impact investing. portfolio with pocket money. ASIC’s MoneySmart guide covers the basics of getting started in Australia.
the real blocker
the price of the thing is not the barrier
Most people who have not started are held up by the feeling that a small amount is not worth bothering with. A small amount is what a low minimum is for, and it is the only version of starting that is available to most people under thirty.
the cost of waiting
Before comparing platforms, there is a cost that sits behind all of them: the time you lose by not starting.
Take two people. Leila starts at 22 and puts in $25 a month. Dan waits until he has saved the same amount Leila will have contributed, and invests it as a single deposit at 30. By 35 they have put in exactly the same money, about $3,900 each. Leila is further along, because her money spent thirteen years in the market and Dan’s spent five.
The gap between the two widens the longer you run it out, over twenty years and over thirty. Nobody can tell you what either balance will be, because that depends on markets, and markets do what they want. What can be said plainly is that waiting for a proper-sounding amount usually costs more than whatever fee you would have paid to start small. ASIC’s compound interest calculator lets you run the scenarios yourself, with your own assumptions rather than ours.
starts small
leila starts at 22
$25 a month, every month, from the year she starts work. By 35 she has contributed about $3,900 and it has been invested the whole time.
waits for a lump sum
dan starts at 30
He waits until he has saved about $3,900, then invests it in one go at 30. Same money in, eight fewer years of it being invested.
what is out there
Five kinds of platform, and the one people usually mean when they name each kind. Minimums and fees move, so the current PDS is the only place worth reading a number off.
| what it is | what the entry point looks like | |
|---|---|---|
| micro-investing apps | Raiz is the one most people mean. Round-ups and spare change swept into a ready-made portfolio, with an ethical option among them. | Built for pocket-money amounts. A flat monthly fee, set by plan, which is the thing worth checking against a small balance. |
| app-based managed funds | Spaceship and the apps like it. A short list of growth portfolios, one of them picked for positive impact. | No minimum to open. A monthly fee starts once a portfolio reaches $100, on top of a percentage charged inside the fund. |
| a subscription impact fund | inaam. One registered fund across five impact themes, weighted by members, with every holding published by name in the app. | The subscription is $10 a month, $120 a year, separate from the money you invest. The minimum to invest in the fund is $100. |
| listed ethical ETFs | Betashares ETHI is the one people name here. A single fund you buy on the ASX through any broker. | Most brokers ask for $500 on a first purchase, and some investing apps start lower. The cost is the MERManagement expense ratio. The percentage of your balance a fund charges each year to run itself. It comes out of the fund, so you rarely see it as a bill. inside the fund, plus whatever your broker charges per trade. |
| screened managed funds | Australian Ethical and the managers in that tradition. Screened portfolios with a published charter behind the screening. | A lump sum to open, which is the highest bar of the five. The trade is the depth of the published screening. |
Fees and minimums change, and providers change them without telling anyone who wrote an article. Check the current PDS for each one before you invest.
why low minimums matter
High minimums build a barrier that lands hardest on anybody without a spare lump sum. When a fund asks for one to open an account, it rules out most people in the early years of saving. The result is that people who care a great deal about where their money goes leave it in a savings account earning almost nothing, or default to whatever their super fund picked for them.
A low minimum does not mean a lower standard. An ASICAustralian Securities and Investments Commission. The government body that regulates financial services and consumer credit in Australia. regulated fund with a small entry point carries the same legal obligations as one with a high minimum. The regulation does not scale with how much you put in. You can check any provider with Moneysmart’s check before you invest page or on ASIC’s professional registers.
regulation does not scale
the same rulebook at every size
The consumer protections that sit behind a managed investment scheme do not know how much you invested. A responsible entity, a PDS, a target market determination and a licence are the same requirements whether the account holds a hundred dollars or a hundred thousand.
the fee trap on small balances
Most start-with-five-dollars articles skip the fees. They matter more on a small balance, because the same fee is a much larger share of a much smaller number.
Fees come in two shapes. A flat fee is the same every month whatever you hold. A percentage fee moves with your balance. Here is what a year of each costs against balances of different sizes. The flat column is our own subscription, because ours is the only fee we can put a number on. The percentage column is an illustration at 0.6% a year, not a quote from anyone.
| a flat subscription, $10 a month | a percentage fee, 0.6% a year | |
|---|---|---|
| against $100 | $120 a year, more than the balance itself | About 60 cents a year |
| against $500 | $120 a year, about 24% of it | About $3 a year |
| against $2,000 | $120 a year, about 6% of it | About $12 a year |
| against $10,000 | $120 a year, about 1.2% of it | About $60 a year |
| against $25,000 | $120 a year, about 0.48% of it | About $150 a year |
Two things are worth saying straight about that table. The first is the pattern: a flat fee weighs heavily on a small balance and lightly on a larger one, while a percentage fee stays proportional at every size. Neither is better in the abstract, and the better one for you changes as your balance grows. The second is that our $10 a month is a subscription to the app, not a slice taken out of your fund balance, and the minimum to invest in the fund is $100. It is still money, so it still belongs in the comparison.
If you are starting with a few hundred dollars and nothing more is going in, a percentage fee costs you less. If you are contributing every month and building past five figures, a flat fee stops mattering. Work out which of those two describes the next couple of years for you, and compare on that.
The 1.5% comparison is fund, platform and advice combined: ASIC Moneysmart, June 2026, the low end of REP 702’s 1.45% to 2.3% range. Typical published ranges, not a quote from any named provider. The fund carries its own costs, set out in the PDS.
which one suits you?
Which one is best depends on your situation. Five common cases:
- You have a few hundred dollars and want to start now. An ethical ETF through a zero-brokerage platform, or an app-based managed fund with no minimum. At that size a percentage fee is the gentler shape.
- You want it automated and you do not want to choose investments. A subscription impact fund like inaam, or a micro-investing app with round-ups and scheduled deposits. Both run the portfolio for you.
- You want to pick your own ethical ETFs. Open a broker account, several now charge nothing to trade ETFs, and buy the funds you have read. Our guide to ETFs covers what to look for, and what are thematic ETFs covers the ones built on a single theme.
- You have a lump sum and want the deepest published screening. The screened managed funds, Australian Ethical among them, publish a charter setting out what they will and will not hold. They ask for more to open, and the published charter is what you get for it.
- You care most about impact measurement. Look for a platform that reports outcomes per holding rather than one score for the whole portfolio. inaam tracks impact across health and wellbeing, renewable energy, waste and recycling, sustainable agriculture and sustainable consumption. How it works sets out the method.
pick one, keep reading
the right answer changes
The platform that suits a two hundred dollar balance and a platform that suits a fifteen thousand dollar balance are rarely the same platform. Choosing one now does not lock you in for a decade, and treating it as though it does is the most expensive part of the whole decision.
what to check before you sign up
Whichever one you land on, five things are worth checking first.
- The AFSLAustralian Financial Services Licence. A business needs one to deal in financial products or advise on them. number. Every legitimate platform has an Australian Financial Services Licence. If you cannot find the number, stop there.
- The PDS. The Product Disclosure Statement tells you what you are investing in, what the fees are and what the risks are. It is not optional reading.
- Withdrawal terms. How fast can you get your money out. Some platforms process withdrawals in a couple of business days, others take up to a week.
- What sustainable means to them. Does the fund exclude harmful industries, screen positively for impact, or apply a light tilt and call it a day. RIAA certifies funds that meet genuine responsible investment standards, which is a meaningful filter rather than a guarantee.
- Whether the fee can change. Some platforms raise fees once they have built a user base. Check whether the current structure is locked or subject to change.
the one document that counts
read the PDS before the marketing page
Every platform on this page has a Product Disclosure Statement, and it is the only document that has to be accurate. Fifteen minutes with the fees section and the risks section will tell you more than an afternoon of comparison articles, this one included.
where inaam sits
inaam is the subscription-fund shape. The subscription is $10 a month, which is $120 a year, and it is separate from the money you invest. The minimum to invest in the fund is $100. Sign-up happens in the app, not on this website.
Behind it sits one registered fund across five impact themes, weighted by members rather than by us, with all 23 holdings published by name in the app and impact data sitting beside each one. Recurring contributions are supported, which is the part that matters most if you are starting small. How the companies get picked, on financial robustness, purposeful impact and leadership calibre, is written out on how it works, and the five themes are set out on investment areas. SMSFs and family trusts are welcome.
the bottom line
The barrier to sustainable investing in Australia is lower than it has ever been. Spending six months comparing platforms and investing in none of them is a bigger risk than picking the wrong one. Pick one that matches your budget and what you care about, and start. You can switch later if it stops fitting.
If you are not sure which values matter most to you, the money values quiz takes two minutes. If you want the platforms side by side, compare lays out how inaam sits beside the other options.
