Ethical Investing

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AFTER 34 YEARS as a financial adviser at Merrill Lynch, Dwight Short relishes being his own boss and incorporating his devotion to Christianity into his work. Short provides “biblically responsible” audits of his clients’ portfolios as part of his services at DLS Consulting, based in Wesley Chapel, FL.

Short is part of a growing number of financial planners catering to Christian conservatives who want to match their financial investments with companies that adhere to their values.

Short is a member of Kingdom Advisors, a 1,200-member national organization of Christian financial advisers, and the National Association of Christian Financial Consultants, organizations dedicated to helping Christian financial advisers apply their faith in working with their clients. Rob West, Kingdom Advisor’s training director, says the organization is growing by 50 members a month.

Individuals who want to be scrupulously selective in their investing have been doing so for decades, thanks to mutual funds that screen out companies deemed religiously or ethically offensive to particular investor sectors.

The Usual Taboos

Catholic-based investment fund Christian Brothers Investment Services has been in existence for 25 years and uses the guidelines from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops on socially responsible investing to screen out companies. Along with the usual taboos of abortion, alcohol, tobacco and pornography, the guidelines also call for screening out companies with ties to the production and sales of weapons.

Faith-based mutual funds have grown from $500 million in total assets 10 years ago to more than $17 billion today, a faster pace than other socially responsible funds, of which they are a subset according to David Kathman, an analyst with fund research firm Morningstar.

Until the 1990s, mutual funds that described themselves as providers of socially responsible investing, including faith-based funds, reflected the beliefs of those on the liberal end of the spectrum says Rusty Leonard, a financial adviser and CEO of Stewardship Investment Counsel in Charlotte, N.C., and an unofficial spokesman for biblically responsible investing.

Too often when Christian conservatives seek the help of financial advisers to align their portfolio in a manner that is consistent with their religious beliefs, they get stuck with funds that are described as socially responsible but that don’t fit their beliefs, Leonard says. “That’s what I thought was so crazy,” he says. “I’m surprised BRI didn’t exist sooner.”

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