VATICAN CITY (RNS) — Religious communities are increasingly seeking to invest in companies that match their faith values and ethical concerns, but experts say the financial market lags in providing the appropriate options.
A conference in London on Monday and Tuesday (Nov. 11-12) sought to bridge that gap by bringing together financial service industry experts with Anglican and Catholic leaders, who represent dioceses and congregations all over the world and an estimated portfolio of $1.75 trillion.
“What we are seeing is that there’s increasing interest from religious organizations, not just Catholic, but also other Christian denominations, to make sure money is indeed managed in an aligned way with their faith,” Peter Hugh Smith, chief executive of London-based CCLA Investment Management, told RNS in an interview.
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CCLA, a London-based organization that manages funds for the Church of England and other religious charities, hosted the conference. The Mensuram Bonam Summit, from the Latin meaning “for good measure,” was named after a document published in 2022 by the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, which laid out guidelines for Catholic companies and investors seeking to invest their money for good.
The document, inspired by Pope Francis’ teachings, followed dozens of regional guidelines issued by Catholic bishops’ conferences around the world and suggested a practice of “engagement” with investment companies and, when necessary, to offer a faith-based perspective to “enhance” their portfolios. Only if these two methods failed, the document called for Catholics to “exclude” investing with those companies.
While Muslims have created sophisticated methods to promote investment in Shariah-compliant funds — ones that aren’t, for example, involved in pork, tobacco or alcohol — Christians lack similar resources. “I think people of faith are becoming more aware that they actually do have a choice with where they invest their money, and not a very good choice at the moment, and that’s what we’re trying to fix,” Smith said.
“Just generally, the industry is not servicing that demand particularly well,” he added.
To achieve this goal, the conference focused on educating financial services providers about the demands and concerns of Christian and especially Catholic investors. Mensuram Bonam listed 24 ethical questions Catholics should ponder before they invest, including abortion, the environment and social issues.