How Shall We Then Invest?

When it comes to employee-sponsored 401(k) or 403(b) plans—often restricted to a few mainstream mutual-fund options—an investor can pursue three different avenues: (1) Petition the Human Resources Department to include an “ethical fund” or “self-directed brokerage window” option. (2) Use ethical ratings programs like My Investigator to pick the least objectionable fund available. (3) Stop participating altogether in favor of other tax-deferred but self-directed retirement vehicles such as iras or variable annuities.

Evangelical churches, nonprofit organizations, and foundations should adopt official ethical guidelines for their retirement, endowment, and other investments, or risk undermining the integrity of their entire ministry by supporting the cultural problems they seek to remedy.

Christian universities, colleges, and seminaries can legitimize the ethics they teach by establishing ethical investing policies as well. In addition to portfolio screening, these institutions of higher learning can also pursue shareholder action by forming committees among students, professors and alumni to research and advise votes on the ethical resolutions of their endowment’s corporate proxies.

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Related Elsewhere

Christ’s Returns | Building an investment plan beyond profit.

Resources for Portfolio Screening:

• Pro Vita Advisors offers a free list of companies violating life-ethics VBI screens.
• My Investigator is a free online database with ethical research on corporations and mutual funds.
• eVALUEator has a database similar to My Investigator, sold to finanical advisers for $400 a year.
• MoneyAndValues.com gives free fund ethical reports if you agree to meet with a representative.
• Values Investment Forum is a leader in values-based investing research for institutional investors.
• American Values Investments are currently developing research on corporations with positive ethical behavior.
• Socrates is a leader in SRI research for institutional investors, by KLD & Co. Inc.
• Investor Responsibility Research Center is for institutional investors.

VBI Mutual Funds:

• Christian Stewardship Funds includes large-cap equity index, small-cap equity index, international equity, and bond index funds.
• Noah Fund is a large-cap growth fund.
• Shepherd Funds offers growth, small-cap, fixed-income, and international funds.
• Stewardship Partners includes international and global funds.
• Timothy Plan offers aggressive growth, large/mid-cap growth, small-cap values, large/mid-cap value, fised income, strategic growth, conservative growth, and money market funds.

Shareholder Action Resources:

• Pro Vita Advisors assists investors in the filing of life-ethics shareholder resolutions.
• Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility is an association of 275 Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Jewish institutional investors jointly advocating corporate ethical responsibility.
• Investor Responsibility Research Center provides research on corporate proxies for institutional investors.

Creative Investing Resources:

• Evangelical Christian Credit Union is a full-service commercial bank fulfilling unique evangelical needs.
• South Shore Bank of Chicago is the original community development bank.

Catholic Mutual Funds:

• Aquinas Funds offers growth, small-cap, fixed-income, and international funds.
• Ave Maria Catholic Values Fund offers small/mid/large-cap value fund.
• Catholic Values Investment Trust offers a large-cap growth fund.

Other Online Resources:

• Faithful Steward gives information and links (by Mary Nabor) to resources for all three facets of ethical investing.
• Values Investing has useful resources on VBI, provided by VIF.
• Social Invest is the official site of the Social Investment Forum, a nonprofit devoted
• Social Funds is the leader in up-to-date research and reporting on SRI.
• Responsible Shopper identifies corporations by their products. Also offers free SRI ethical reports.

Crosswalk.com’s Money channeloffers many resources for values-based investing.

Previous Christianity Todaystories about ethical investing include:

Ma Bell, Madam | Socially responsive investors question AT&T’s trafficking in hardcore smut. (March 21, 2001)

Is the Stock Market Good Stewardship? | I see more of our Christian brothers investing in the market. Is this a healthy trend? (Nov. 1, 2000)

Pious Profits? | Socially responsible’ investing grows popular. (Sept. 6, 1999)

Disney Boycott Gathers Steam | Organization holds rallies, asks people to dump their stock in Disney companies. (Oct. 6, 1997)

Holding Corporate America Accountable | Christians press for greater responsibility from businesses. (Oct. 28, 1996)