FaithInvest

FaithInvest came away from the recent MENSURAM BONAM conference in London, UK, convinced the event marked a watershed moment for faith-consistent investing in the Catholic Church. Looking at the list of key actions and resolutions arising from the two-day summit, issued by the organisers, we are even more certain that the event will have a transformative impact in accelerating #FaithConsistentInvesting (FCI) – not just in the #Catholic Church but across the wider #Christian world. What we're looking at are the foundations for the development of a whole new FCI ecosystem to enable Catholic and Christian investors to invest in line with their values. It's incredibly exciting and we wholeheartedly welcome it! Find out more: https://lnkd.in/eQwi3eRm Organisers/supporters included Vatican Bank (Jean-Baptiste de Franssu), CCLA Investment Management, and supported by Anthos Fund & Asset Management, Christian Brothers Investment Services, Catholic Investment Services and Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors.

Earlier this year, FaithInvest launched a major new programme: Faithful Finance: An Introduction to Aligning Investments with Faith Values – a four-week, live-taught online course on the fundamentals of faith-consistent investing (FCI). It was the first FCI course aimed specifically at faith-based organisations, rather than individuals, and all faith traditions. We had never done anything like this before and we had no idea how it would be received. But we created it in response to our faith partners who said they needed more support to help them increase their knowledge, skills and confidence when it came to implementing FCI. We've just completed the third cohort, featuring participants from as far afield as Sri Lanka and Ireland. And we're delighted to report that the overwhelming response from our Cohort Three participants was very positive, as it has been for each of the other two cohorts. We've also learned a great deal from this experience. In fact, it's no exaggeration to say that it's been a transformative year – for us and, we hope, our participants. You can read our reflections on our FCI training and what we've learned. https://lnkd.in/e8W_dfPn

We have a wonderful faith-consistent investing (FCI) forum coming up in a couple of weeks' time which will provide a deep dive into the world of Islamic finance, projected to grow to US$6.67 trillion by 2027. Our FCI Interest Group meets quarterly for short (45 minute), focused and solutions-oriented meetings to discuss topics of interest to faith-aligned investors. The next meeting is on Thursday 5 December, and focuses on Islamic finance as well as the recently published Al-Mizan: A Covenant for the Earth, and now it can help align investments with ethical and sustainable practices. Speakers include: – Iyad Abumoghli, Director of UNEP's Faith for Earth Coalition – Omar Shaikh, Director of Global Ethical Finance Initiative – Moderator: Mathew Jensen CFA, Director of Faith-Consistent Investing Programmes If you'd like to attend, register here: https://lnkd.in/egCzjnVT And while you're at it, check out the recent post by our colleague Hasnane Arain discussing what Islamic finance offers a compelling example of faith-consistent investing (FCI) that not only aligns with ethical principles but also delivers strong financial returns. https://lnkd.in/e7_HT5fm #FaithConsistentInvesting #IslamicFinance

What a wonderful gathering in London this week to discuss investing in line with Catholic values! The Mensuram Bonam Faith-Consistent Investment Conference brought together people responsible for investing on behalf of the Catholic Church, Catholic religious orders and institutions from across the world, as well as asset managers and other organisations including FaithInvest. Some takeaways: – Catholic institutions globally have an estimated $1.75 trillion to invest, according to Jean-Baptiste de Franssu, president of the Vatican Bank – but almost no investment options if they want to ensure their funds are aligned with Catholic Social Teaching and reflect Catholic values. – It's not easy to find funds that are consistent with Catholic or Christian values because it's difficult to identify them on investment tracking websites, unlike the options available to Muslim investors, who can easily search for Shariah-compliant funds – Very few Catholic dioceses have 'full' investment guidelines in place; a research project found only four 'full' guidelines and six 'partial' guidelines – There's a real energy and appetite to embrace faith-consistent investing (FCI) in the Catholic Church, and the guidelines contained in the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences' 2022 document Mensuram Bonam ('For Good Measure'), subtitled 'Faith-Based Measures for Catholic Investors: A Starting Point and Call to Action', are considered to be an excellent foundation for building a framework that many Catholic institutions can adopt – That said, many obstacles remain, not least around awareness raising of FCI and why it's important in the wider church (the laity as well as clergy) and improving financial knowledge and expertise among those managing finance for Catholic institutions FaithInvest was delighted to be part of the event, hosted by CCLA Investment Management, and supported by Anthos Fund & Asset Management, Christian Brothers Investment Services, Catholic Investment Services and Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors. It really felt like a watershed moment for Catholic investing – read our report: https://lnkd.in/eVy_f-M7

Solving the two-pocket problem: How do you motivate faith groups to actively drive impact through their investments? That was the question posed to FaithInvest's Director of Faith-consistent Mathew Jensen, CFA in AVPN Academy's Money Meets Mission podcast. Mathew discussed what we call the two-pocket problem: 'Where a faith organisation or faith-based organisation is doing wonderful work in their activities, in their preaching, in their giving, but often times they're not connecting that with the assets that they have to fund those activities in another pocket. Those two things are separate.' It was a great chat. Listen to find out more about: – why a staggering 45% of faith-based organisations do not align their investments with their values; – how your money is your energy in the world. 'You're putting that energy out there, and it's doing work in the world for you and having impacts, intentional or not'; – how translating faith values into investment decisions can lead to transformative impact; – what obstacles you are likely to face as you implement faith-consistent investing. Listen to the full 23-minute podcast: Spotify: https://lnkd.in/gSjxaKzu Apple Podcasts: https://lnkd.in/gn-KGzka

Did you know that we offer free, confidential assessments of faith-based organisations' investment policies to examine the extent to which their faith values are integrated into their investment decisions? Why is this important? Faith groups are values- and mission-driven organisations. Yet, nearly half of faith investment policies do not even mention that faith plays a role in their investment decisions. If you are not clear in articulating how your values should guide your investments, then you cannot be sure that your money really is going where you want it to go, or doing what you want it to do. If you're interested in having us look confidentially at your investment policies and guidelines, contact us at info@faithinvest.org to find out more.

A new survey has confirmed what FaithInvest already knew – that the vast majority of Christians who consider their faith important want their investments to reflect their values. The survey by US-based investment adviser Eventide Asset Management found that 88% of Christians – nearly nine in 10 – would be interested in investing in a fund that is 'highly ethical and seeks to do good', while 23% believe they currently invest in these types of funds. The survey has a clear message for the leaders of faith-based organisations, says FaithInvest's Executive Chair Dave Zellner. 'People of faith want to see their values reflected in finances, as in other aspects of their lives – and they also want to see the values they hear preached in the pulpit reflected in how faith organisations manage their own financial assets,' he says. However, our own survey has found that 'many faith organisations have yet to articulate and integrate these values in their investment practices', he add: 'We urge all faith-based organisations to step up their efforts to ensure they are investing in a way that is consistent with their faith values. It is clearly something that members of their congregations want to see.' Read the full story: https://bit.ly/3YRkH5U

FaithInvest runs a lively, active, solutions-oriented Faith-Consistent Investing Interest Group Forum, which meets online each quarter to discuss issues facing faith-based investors. We've got a great line up of speakers for this December's forum which focuses on Al-Mizan and Islamic Finance, with Iyad Abumoghli, Director of UNEP Faith for Earth Coalition, and Omar Shaikh, Managing Director of the Global Ethical Finance Initiative, plus FaithInvest's Mathew Jensen, CFA. We'll be discussing Al-Mizan's framework for aligning #investments with ethical and sustainable practices, grounded in the balance between economic, social, and environmental justice, and also how it integrates #Islamic values into modern finance. Find out more: https://lnkd.in/e6k5JwWB #FaithConsistentInvesting #FaithBasedInvesting

In the third of his series on faith-consistent investing, FaithInvest Executive Chair Dave Zellner delves into ways faith values can guide effective risk mitigation strategies and potentially lead to enhanced investment performance. Faith-consistent investing is not about sacrificing returns for values, he says. Instead, it's an approach that uses faith principles as a guide for identifying and mitigating risks while capitalising on opportunities that arise from building a more sustainable and just economy.    #FaithConsistentInvesting #FaithbasedInvesting https://lnkd.in/ecRFe4zt

FaithInvest is delighted to be attending #SOCAP24 - Catalyzing Systems Change - in San Francisco. Among many great sessions today we had the privilege of hearing from climate icon Christiana Figueres, who, as the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, tirelessly led the way to the Paris Agreement in 2015!