CIRCA5000 review

How we rated CIRCA5000's investment features

If you’re keen to help make a difference in the world while trying to make money at the same time, then ethical investing might be for you. CIRCA5000 is an investment app that lets you put your money to work by investing in a range of ready-made portfolios. We’ve compiled some of CIRCA5000’s features, what you can invest in and some pros and cons of this mobile trading app.

What is CIRCA5000?

CIRCA5000 is a digital investing platform with over 160,000 users that concentrates on ethical investing. It’s got a pretty cool tagline, “People made money ruining the world, let’s make money fixing it.”

CIRCA5000 fees

Overall, CIRCA5000 provides a pretty cheap place to invest in ethical funds. The platform fee works out as a flat £1 per month (which is labelled as a “monthly subscription fee”) plus 0.45% of your portfolio (ingeniously called “CIRCA5000 fees”).

It would be helpful if there was just a single platform fee but it’s still comparable to similar investing apps.

There’s no commission for buying or selling funds but there are ongoing costs that apply to the funds. These are around 0.49% but they can fluctuate.

All the fees and charges for CIRCA5000 will be charged on a monthly basis.

CIRCA5000 investment choice and stocks

CIRCA5000 has limitations when it comes to investment choice, but that’s by design. The app’s aim is to make ethical investing straightforward and accessible. So, there’s only a handful of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) – exactly a handful unless you’re missing any fingers or thumbs.

Investing in ETFs with CIRCA5000 means choosing one of the following 5 options:

• Green Energy & Technology
• Clean Water & Waste
• Health & Wellbeing
• Sustainable Food & Biodiversity
• Social & Economic Empowerment

Is CIRCA5000 safe?

CIRCA5000 is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme protection. So your deposits of up to £85,000 are covered in the event that CIRCA5000 goes bust.

With CIRCA5000, your money is held in a custody account managed by its custodian, Seccl Custody Limited. Seccl is owned by Octopus Group, a group of companies with over £9.1 billion in Assets Under Management (AUM) and over 1.4 million customers.

Like any other type of investment, your capital is at risk when you invest using CIRCA5000 and you may end up with less than what you originally invested. The performance of investments will vary, and there is no guarantee of return.

CIRCA5000 account types and products

CIRCA5000 offers a decent range of account options (especially consider it has such a small choice of investments), you can use a:

• General investment account (GIA)
• Stocks and shares ISA
• Junior ISA (JISA)
• Self-invested personal pension (SIPP)

Keep on reading to find out more about these products and the main differences between them. All come with the same fees and investment options, it’s mostly the tax-efficiency that varies.

CIRCA5000 general investment account

Most people opt for a general investment account (GIA) once they have used up their yearly ISA allowance.

You may have to pay capital gains tax (CGT) if you make profits of more than £6,000 in each tax year or if you receive more than £1,000 in dividends (reducing to a £500 threshold in 2024).

Other than this, the GIA is pretty straightforward.

CIRCA5000 stocks and shares ISA

A stocks and shares ISA lets you invest up to your full annual allowance without paying tax on UK dividends or capital gains.

The annual ISA allowance for the 2023/2024 tax year is £20,000.

CIRCA5000 junior ISA

A JISA lets you invest in your child’s future, up to an annual allowance. The child has access to the funds when they turn 18, at which point they can withdraw it, keep it invested or a combination of the two.

The JISA allowance for the 2023/2024 tax year is £9,000. This means that you can invest up to £9,000 in each tax year and won’t pay tax on most profits.

CIRCA5000 SIPP

The CIRCA5000 SIPP means you can invest for retirement, ethically. With the CIRCA5000 SIPP, you can invest up to 100% of your annual income (up to £60,000 maximum) and you’ll receive tax relief (the amount depends on your tax bracket).

You can access your SIPP portfolio when you reach 55 (rising to 57 in 2028).

CIRCA5000 ease of use

CIRCA5000 scored okay in our ease of use assessment. We like that there are a few ways to get hold of its customer support team.

On the App Store, CIRCA5000 scores an impressive 4.5 out of 5, and on Google Play it has a much lower 3.5 out of 5 (as of January 2024). There’s no desktop platform and you can invest only with the CIRCA5000 app.

CIRCA5000 customer reviews

Trustpilot reviewers gave CIRCA5000 a 3.4 out of 5 “Average” rating (as of September 2024), but bear in mind this is less than 200 reviews.

CIRCA5000 tools, resources and features

With the goal of keeping things simple, CIRCA5000 has a limited range of tools and resources, along with some learning materials like articles, guides and a podcast.

Frequently asked questions

• How much do I need to get started with CIRCA5000?

  There’s a minimum deposit amount of £100, but you can invest with just £5.

• Can I transfer an ISA to CIRCA5000?

  Yes, CIRCA5000 permits ISA transfer, just make sure you use the proper transfer service.

• Does CIRCA5000 offer investment advice?

  No, CIRCA5000 is not a financial advice service and does not provide investment advice. There are only 5 investments to choose from but speak to a financial advisor if you’re unsure.

• How long do withdrawals take with CIRCA5000?

  Withdrawals can take 5 to 8 working days to reach your bank account because CIRCA5000 first has to sell your holdings into cash.