Welcome to our Feb issue on ‘Aligning Faith and Finances.’ In a world lacking moral clarity on a variety of issues, how can we, or should we, expect to bring clarity to our finances, which can be fraught with ethical and moral compromises? Can a better moral compass give us direction with our personal capital or in the capital markets? Does morality belong in the marketplace of money? 

Connecting our Faith to our investments requires trust – which, like Faith, calls us to trust in what is not seen. Our investments can be similar, in that you have yet to see the financial gain you are looking for – so there is risk. You have Faith / belief in a company or the management to do the ‘right thing’ to take the company forward on a profitable (and ethical) path.

Faith institutions and religious organizations have trillions invested around the world. In fact, Morningstar found that more faith-based products were launched in the US between 2019 and 2022 than during any other stretch since 2010, and they predict faith-based investing will grow even more popular with the surge of customized investing.

In many ways we are called to be good stewards of creation and of our assets as well. Should we be using those assets to influence business to be better corporate citizens? This can take us beyond shareholder or stakeholder capitalism, to a new “stewardship capitalism” by de-risking your portfolio from bad corporate actors and immorality in the marketplace. This is where discernment comes in, not just with people but with corporations too as the world is full of deception especially when it comes to money and finances.

This February issue features writers from Praxis Mutual Funds, Eventide Asset Management, the Global Impact Investing Network as well as the Faith Driven Investor ministries. You’ll also find several articles provided by our friends at the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility. And finally, check out the featured Videos and Podcast for this month.

In case you missed our December issue over the busy Holidays you can still find the great lineup of articles on ‘Women and Sustainable Investing’. Be sure to check out the featured article from the newly retired Joe Keefe of Impax Asset Management on ‘Investing in Gender Equity is Smart Investing’. Congratulations and good luck Joe on your next endeavor!

As the spring conference season gets underway, you can keep up to date on forthcoming events with GreenMoney’s Global Events Calendar.

– Cliff Feigenbaum, founder & publisher