Faith-Based Investing Proves Profitable
October 27, 2009 by Tisa Silver
Filed under Finance
I am a huge proponent of investing in what you believe in (It’s Chapter 13 in my book!). I’ve heard plenty about faith-based initiatives, but not so much about faith-based investing.
According to TheStreet.com, over the past few years, the strategy has not only been quite profitable, but it has outperformed major benchmarks.
Photo by Fr Antunes, courtesy of flickr
There are approximately 100 faith-based mutual funds which hold a total of $31 billion in assets.
Similar to other socially responsible investing tools, these funds are more widely known for what they will not invest in, as opposed to what they will invest in.
Companies to avoid include alcohol, tobacco, gambling and adult entertainment. Some funds also avoid banks and insurance companies because they profit from debt (lending and interest).
Aside from industries to avoid, some of the funds also stay away from companies with debt-laden balance sheets. Below, you will find a list of some faith-based mutual fund families.
Ave Maria Mutual Funds and LKCM Aquinas Funds (Catholic) – Catholic Values Fund (AVEMX) is up over 40 percent in the past year, versus 24 percent for the S&P 500.
Timothy Plan Funds (Advertised as “America’s first pro-life, pro-family, biblically-based mutual fund group.”) – Large/Midcap Growth Fund (TLGAX) is up over 30 percent in the past 12 months.
Amana Mutual Funds Trust (Islam) – In the past year, Amana’s Trust Growth Fund (AMAGX) is up over 30 percent.
MMA Praxis Mutual Funds (Mennonite) – Small Cap Fund (MMSCX) is up 25 percent year-to-date.
New Covenant Funds (Presbyterian) – Growth Fund (NCGFX) is up 30 percent.
Each fund family has more than one fund, I just picked one fund randomly from each family and all of them happened to provide higher returns than the S&P 500 over the past year. For more information on faith-based mutual funds, visit about.com.
