The Charities Aid Foundation has launched a digital investment trading platform to make it easier for smaller charities to access investment opportunities. 

Through the CAF Investment Account charities can access more than 4,000 funds online, including Common Investment Funds which are only available to charities. 

Charities will also be able to use the platform to invest directly in stocks and bonds listed on the London Stock Exchange and other global markets. 

John Low, chief executive of CAF, said: “With interest rates at record lows, it has become more challenging for charities to maximise the return on money donated by their supporters in order to make a bigger difference.  

“CAF has a long history of helping charities tackle their financial challenges and we believe there’s a huge amount of untapped potential for charities to make more use of investments to help support their work.

“Whatever the size of a charity, and however much they have to invest, the CAF Investment Account has been designed to make investing money easy, time-efficient and cost-effective. Charities signing up will have access to the most comprehensive range of charity-specific funds anywhere online.”

To be eligible for the account organisations need to be a registered UK charity or recognised by HMRC as having a charitable purpose. By using the account charities will be able to research, manage and trade investments in one place. 

There is no minimum investment amount.

Funds from the following managers are available on the account from launch:

• FP CAF
• CAF UK Equitrack 
• Sarasin & Partners LLP 
• M&G Investments 
• Edentree Investments
• Troy Asset Management