If you are moving money out of a savings account and into something long term, inaam is an ASIC regulated impact investing app built for that step. A low entry point, recurring contributions you set once, and a registered managed investment scheme, the inaam Impact Investments Fund, ARSN 691 614 132.
All 23 holdings are published by name and mapped to one of five impact pillars: renewable energy, sustainable agriculture, sustainable consumption, health and wellbeing, and waste and recycling. Impact data sits next to each holding and the learning lab is in the app. The subscription is $10 a month, which is $120 a year, and the minimum to invest in the fund is $100. They are two separate numbers. Sign-up happens in the app. General information only. Consider the PDS and TMD before investing.
the four types of sustainable platform
Sustainable investment products do not all work the same way. Knowing which kind you are looking at tells you most of what you need: what it costs, how much work it is, and how deep the screening goes.
Managed fund apps. A professional team builds and maintains the portfolio. You put money in, they handle the rest. inaam is one, a curated impact fund reached through an app. Australian Ethical runs managed funds with comprehensive ESG screening. This suits people who want impact investing without making the investment decisions themselves.
Micro-investing apps. Built for small, regular amounts, often with round-ups or automatic deposits. Raiz Invest carries an ethical portfolio among its options. Spaceship has an Earth portfolio picked for positive impact. This suits people who want to invest passively with very little effort.
ETF platforms. ETFsExchange traded funds. Investment funds listed on a stock exchange, so they carry the diversification of a managed fund and trade like a single share. are funds you buy and sell on the stock exchange, like shares. Betashares ETHI applies ethical screening. Vanguard VESG tracks a global index with set industries excluded. You need a brokerage account to buy either, and you pay brokerage each time you trade. The ASX ETF investor hub explains how they work in practice. This suits self-directed investors who want low ongoing costs and the ability to sell during market hours.
Super funds. Sustainable superannuation, for retirement savings. Future Super screens out fossil fuels. Australian Ethical runs a super fund as well as managed funds. Your money is locked up until retirement, with limited exceptions. This suits anyone who wants their retirement savings pointed at the same things they are.
hold on to this one
one question behind all four
Every one of these is answering the same question: how much of the work do you want to do, and how deep do you want the screen to go. Cost, minimums and control all follow from that answer.
what sustainable means
There is no single legal definition of sustainable in Australian investment marketing. ASICThe Australian Securities and Investments Commission. The government body that regulates financial services and consumer credit in Australia. has acted on greenwashing, and the word itself still covers a wide range of approaches. The ASIC MoneySmart investing guide sets out what to check before you put money into any fund.
Some platforms exclude harmful industries and call that sustainable. Others actively invest in companies solving problems and call that sustainable. Both are using the word accurately by their own definition, and the depth is very different. A fund that excludes tobacco while still holding mining companies is sustainable on its own terms. Whether that matches your terms is the question worth asking.
The PDSProduct Disclosure Statement. What you are investing in, what it costs and what can go wrong. Read it before you invest. tells you exactly which methodology a fund uses. Read it. If a platform calls itself sustainable and cannot explain its screening process clearly, be sceptical.
the thing to internalise
the word does not mean one thing
Two funds can both be sustainable and hold almost nothing in common, and neither of them is lying. The label is a category, and the standard lives in the methodology document.
how to compare sustainable investment funds
The four types split fairly cleanly on cost, minimum and effort. Index-tracking ESG funds charge the least each year and screen the lightest. Rules-based screened ETFs charge more than a plain index fund, because someone has to define and police the screen, and you pay brokerage on top each time you buy. Established ethical managers usually ask a minimum in the thousands and offer decades of charter history. Micro-investing apps have the lowest entry points, often charge a small flat monthly amount as well as a percentage, and their screening ranges from a light tilt to a properly defined ethical option. Ethical super options charge like super and are locked until retirement.
Here is what each of the named products publishes for itself.
| type | minimum to start | ongoing fee | how it screens | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Australian Ethical | managed fund | $1,000 | 1.39% to 1.69% p.a. on retail funds (fund pages) | comprehensive Ethical Charter |
 Betashares ETHI | ETF | about $17 a unit, often $500 on a first purchase | 0.59% p.a. (fund page) | rules-based ethical screening |
 Vanguard VESG | ETF | about $120 a unit, often $500 on a first purchase | 0.18% p.a. (fact sheet) | global index with set industries excluded |
 Raiz Invest | micro-investing app | $5 | $2.50 to $6.50 a month by plan (fee schedule) | ethical portfolio option |
 Spaceship | managed fund app | no minimum | $3 a month from $100, plus 0.15% to 0.50% p.a. (fee schedule) | Earth portfolio, picked for positive impact |
 Future Super | super fund | through your employer | 1.22% to 1.51% p.a. plus $60 a year (fee table) | fossil fuel free screening |
Every number in that table is the provider’s own published figure, taken from each fee page, fund page or fact sheet on 6 October 2026. inaam is not in it, because our own fee belongs beside the question worth asking anyone else rather than inside a league table. Fees, minimums and features change, so the current PDS for whatever you are looking at is the authority, ours included.
Here is our own answer beside the question worth asking whoever else you are looking at.
| inaam | what to ask any other platform | |
|---|---|---|
| what it is | A registered managed investment scheme, the inaam Impact Investments Fund, reached through an app on iOS and Android. | Is this an ETF, a managed fund, a super option or a share trading account, and what does that change about how you buy it? |
| minimum to start | $100 into the fund. | Is the minimum the same number as the fee, or two different numbers? |
| what it costs | $10 a month, $120 a year, flat, whatever the balance does. No brokerage, because you are not placing the trades. | Is the fee flat or a share of your balance, and is brokerage charged on top every time you buy? |
| screening depth | Company by company selection on three checks: financial robustness, purposeful impact, leadership calibre. | Is this an exclusion list, a score-based tilt, or active selection, and where is the method published? |
| recurring contributions | Set once in the app and they run on their own. | Can contributions be automated, or does every purchase need you to place it? |
| what you can see | All 23 holdings published by name, each mapped to one of five themes, with impact data beside it. | Can you read the full holdings list, and how current is it? |
Fees, minimums and features change. Whatever you are comparing, the current PDS and product terms are the source of truth, including ours.
how to avoid greenwashing
Three practical steps.
- Read the methodology. Every fund PDS explains what it screens for. If the marketing says sustainable and the PDS shows weak exclusions, the marketing is doing the heavy lifting.
- Check the holdings. Can you see which companies the fund owns? If not, none of the claims can be verified.
- Look at what is excluded and what is not. A fund that excludes tobacco and still holds fossil fuel companies has a different definition of sustainable from the one you probably had in mind.
etf against managed fund
ETFs are the cheaper option on annual cost, and the one that asks more of you. Betashares ETHI charges 0.59% p.a. and Vanguard VESG charges 0.18% p.a., per their fund page and fact sheet, against the 1.39% to 1.69% p.a. Australian Ethical publishes for its retail managed funds. You place the trades, you pay brokerage each time, and the screen is applied by rules rather than judgement, which is why a rules-based fund can hold a company that looks wrong to you and still be doing exactly what it said it would.
Managed funds are more curated. A team selects and monitors companies and makes judgement calls a rules-based ETF cannot. inaam holding 23 companies chosen one at a time is an example of that, and Australian Ethical actively engages with the companies it holds. Curation costs more than rules, and depth is what you are paying for.
Neither approach is better in the abstract. It depends on whether you value breadth and low cost or depth and active management. The Responsible Investment Association Australasia tracks the performance of responsible investment across Australia and New Zealand, and is the place to go for the research rather than anyone’s marketing.
the real trade-off
rules or judgement
A rules-based fund is predictable and literal. A curated fund can exercise judgement and can also get it wrong. Both are defensible, and the only bad version is a fund that will not tell you which one it is.
the super fund blind spot
Most conversations about sustainable investing in Australia are about apps and ETFs. For a lot of Australians, super is the largest single investment they have. Your employer puts money in every pay cycle and that money is invested on your behalf. If you have never checked where, it is probably in a default balanced option holding whatever the fund manager decided.
Switching your super allocation to an ethical or sustainable option takes about ten minutes online. You do not need to change funds, though you can. Most major super funds now offer at least one ESG or sustainable option inside their existing product. The MoneySmart super guide walks through how to compare options and switch.
Future Super is a standalone ethical super fund. Australian Ethical offers both super and managed funds. If you want your retirement savings pointed the same way you are, this is the change with the most money attached and the least work in it.
which type suits your situation?
There is no single best investing platform in Australia, so this is a short decision list, by what you want.
- A small amount every month, and you do not want to think about it. A managed fund app. Set up the automation and leave it alone.
- You want to choose your own investments and keep annual costs low. ETFs through a brokerage account. You place the trades yourself and you pay brokerage each time.
- You have $1,000 or more and want the deepest ethical screening. Australian Ethical managed funds, where the published minimum is $1,000 (PDS), and decades of Ethical Charter history sit behind the screen.
- You want your retirement savings to match your values. Switch your super allocation to an ethical option, or move to a standalone ethical super fund.
- You care most about seeing exactly where the money goes. Look for full holdings disclosure and impact data per company. The transparency guide covers what good disclosure looks like.
You do not have to pick one. Plenty of people hold an ethical super option, a managed fund app for the regular contribution, and an ETF for lump sums. The combination covers retirement, the medium term and the flexible part in between.
where inaam sits
inaam is a managed fund app, which puts it in the first of the four types. A registered fund, five impact themes, and members customising those themes themselves rather than accepting a preset.
The subscription is $10 a month, which is $120 a year, flat whatever your balance does, 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. All 23 holdings are published by name with the impact data beside them, the three checks a company passes are on how it works, and the five themes are on investment areas. SMSFs and family trusts are welcome.
To see how that sits beside other platforms on fees, features and screening depth, compare lays it out side by side.
