Ethical Screening

What Ethical Screening does

Ethical Screening, trading under the legal name Ethical & Environmental Screening Services Ltd., is a UK-based research firm that provides ethical, ESG, and sustainability research to investment professionals. Founded around 2005 and headquartered in Cheltenham, the company serves four primary client segments — investment managers, fund managers, charities and trusts, and financial advisors — helping them align portfolios with client values, manage ESG risks, identify positive-impact opportunities, and meet growing responsible-investment demand. Its disclosed client base includes Liontrust, Castlefield, Charles Stanley, Quilter Cheviot, Quilter Investors, Raymond James, Rowan Dartington, Gravis Capital, Premier Miton Investors, Vermeer Partners, and several major UK charities such as Global Witness, War on Want, Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust, and Compassion in World Farming. The firm has operated for over 20 years as a privately held, profitable limited company with no external funding rounds disclosed.

The company's core products are two proprietary web portals. The Companies Portal is a subscription-based platform providing company-level ethical, ESG, and SDG analysis on more than 2,000 companies globally, backed by a proprietary scoring methodology that evaluates approximately 200 data points across 40+ sectors with positive and negative contributions scored separately, plus sector-average peer comparisons. The Funds Portal is a free database of more than 200 UK responsibly managed funds available to registered investment professionals, with paid sponsorship tiers for fund providers (£250/year for enhanced ratings on five funds; £1,000/year for full portal sponsorship with dedicated content pages and rating stamps). Both portals are underpinned by an ethical issues questionnaire used to generate approved and excluded stock lists aligned with client principles. Bespoke research services — including custom criteria design, policy development, and biannual reporting — are sold through direct engagement to clients with specific requirements.

Ethical Screening's revenue model combines recurring subscriptions (Companies Portal, Funds Portal sponsorship tiers) with professional services revenue from bespoke engagements. Distribution is primarily digital via the two portal platforms, augmented by direct sales for bespoke work and enterprise accounts. Marketing is content-led, leveraging a Resource Hub, 'Talking Sustainability' and 'Talking Greenwash' video interview series, blog, newsletter, and active social media presence. The firm operates as an independently owned small business with average net profit before tax of £115,938 over the three years to September 2025 per its Fair Tax Mark disclosure; it maintains signatory or membership status with UN PRI, UN Global Compact, UKSIF, World Benchmarking Alliance, and the Fair Tax Foundation.

Name

Ethical Screening

Legal name

Ethical & Environmental Screening Services Ltd.

Website

https://ethicalscreening.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Ethical Screening is a UK-based ESG and ethical research firm serving investment managers, fund managers, charities, and financial advisors through proprietary Companies Portal and Funds Portal platforms plus bespoke research services, underpinned by a 2,000+ company database and proprietary ESG scoring methodology.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

ESG Research & Analytics

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Screening & Exclusions (Negative Screens, Norms-Based, Values-Based) (FSAAALAL)

Keywords

• ESG research services
• Ethical investment screening
• Responsible investment data
• Sustainability ratings analysis
• Fund ESG screening

Headquarters

HQ city

Cheltenham

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Companies Portal Subscription: Subscription-based access to the Companies Portal providing detailed research on ethical issues, ESG data, sustainability assessments, company profiles, SDG analysis, and portfolio reporting tools. Used by investment managers for direct equity screening.
2. Fund Portal Sponsorship and Enhanced Fund Profiles: Fund providers can sponsor the Funds Portal (at three tiers: free basic profile, £250/year for enhanced ratings on 5 funds, £1,000/year for full portal sponsorship with dedicated content pages and rating stamps) to promote their responsibly managed funds to over 2,000 investment advisors. Sponsoring does not influence fund ratings — maintaining editorial independence.
3. Bespoke Services: Tailored research and screening services for clients with specific requirements, including guidance on criteria selection and biannual reporting on approved and excluded companies. Sold as custom engagements to investment managers and charities.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Ethical Screening provides ethical, ESG, and sustainability research and ratings for investment professionals. The firm operates two online portals — the Companies Portal for company-level equity screening and the Funds Portal for fund-level research — covering more than 2,000 companies across 40+ sectors and over 200 UK responsibly managed funds. It also delivers bespoke, tailored screening and reporting engagements for clients with custom ethical criteria.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Companies Portal Subscription-based online portal providing company-level ESG ratings, ethical issue analysis, SDG analysis, positive themes research, and portfolio screening/reporting tools for investment managers conducting direct equity analysis.
• Funds Portal Online database of UK responsibly managed funds covering over 200 funds, available free at a basic tier for registered investment professionals. Includes fund rating stamps, ethical criteria narratives, and fund provider sponsorship tiers (£250/year enhanced ratings; £1,000/year full sponsorship).
• Bespoke Research Services Tailored ethical, ESG, and impact research and screening engagements for investment managers and charities with specific criteria. Includes guidance on criteria selection and biannual reporting on approved and excluded companies, delivered as custom professional services.

Quantifiable outcome

• Research database covering more than 2,000 companies reviewed annually
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers14 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• UN Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI)coreOthersEthical Screening is a signatory to the UN Principles for Responsible Investment, demonstrating commitment to responsible investment practices and alignment with global ESG standards.
• Fair Tax FoundationcoreOthersEthical Screening is certified by the Fair Tax Foundation and holds the Fair Tax Mark, meeting the standards of the FTF's UK Small Business Standard. The company maintains an average effective tax rate of 23.29%, demonstrating transparent tax practices.
• UK Sustainable Investment & Finance (UKSIF)coreOthersEthical Screening is a member of UKSIF, the UK's membership organisation for sustainable and responsible finance, connecting the company with the broader UK sustainable finance community.
• World Benchmarking AlliancecoreOthersEthical Screening is a member of the World Benchmarking Alliance, which develops free, science-based benchmarks to encourage technology and sustainability leadership among companies.
• UN Global CompactcoreOthersEthical Screening supports the ten principles of the UN Global Compact covering human rights, labour, environment, and anti-corruption, and is committed to upholding the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work.
• Stronger TogetherminorOthersEthical Screening references guidance and resources from Stronger Together (a multi-stakeholder initiative helping businesses tackle modern slavery) to encourage suppliers to address modern slavery in their operations.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• MSCI ESG Research: Largest global provider of ESG ratings, screening and analytics used by institutional investors. Directly comparable to Ethical Screening's Companies Portal offering but at vastly greater scale, broader issuer coverage, and integrated with portfolio analytics workflows.
• S&P Global ESG Scores: Part of S&P Global's data and analytics franchise, offering corporate-level ESG scores integrated with the wider S&P dataset. Competes for the same institutional ESG-data budget as Ethical Screening's Companies Portal.
• Bloomberg ESG Data: Embedded ESG data service for Bloomberg Terminal users. While a broader platform play than Ethical Screening's portal, it competes for the same investment-professional ESG-data spend and increasingly bundles SDG and impact analytics.

Emerging players

• Datamaran: AI-driven platform for ESG risk and opportunity analytics aimed at enterprise risk and strategy teams, with growing use among investment professionals. A more technology-led alternative for the same ESG-intelligence use case Ethical Screening serves.
• RepRisk: ESG and business-conduct risk analytics provider using AI-driven news and stakeholder data. Comparable in serving investment professionals for negative-screening and controversy monitoring, but with a technology-led, automated approach versus Ethical Screening's manual research.
• Arabesque S-Ray: Quantitative ESG data provider combining company-level sustainability scores with big-data analytics. Competes with Ethical Screening for ESG data spend at asset managers, with overlap on SDG/positive-screening use cases.

Direct peers

• Sustainalytics (Morningstar): Global ESG and corporate-governance research provider serving asset managers and asset owners. Competes head-to-head with Ethical Screening on ESG ratings, screening, and fund-level research, with significantly larger coverage and risk-analytics depth.
• Trucost (S&P Global): Carbon and environmental data specialist now part of S&P Global, focused on climate, natural capital, and environmental risk analytics. Comparable to Ethical Screening's environmental component scoring and sector-level analytics.
• Moody's ESG Solutions (formerly Vigeo Eiris): Global ESG ratings, scoring, and sustainability data provider acquired by Moody's. Overlaps directly with Ethical Screening on ethical screening, ESG scoring, and SDG mapping for investment professionals.
• ISS ESG: Provides ESG ratings, screening, and climate solutions to institutional investors and asset managers. Comparable in serving the responsible-investment due-diligence workflow, with particular overlap in norm-based screening and fund-level assessments.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/Ethical_Screen
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@ethicalscreening4850
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ethical-screening-limited

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Ethical Screening