How to invest according to your values or your faith

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Choosing where to direct your money.

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Values-based investing aligns your personal values with your financial decisions. It includes “faith-based” investing, where people use their religious beliefs as a financial guide. For others, strong convictions about topics such as the environment may direct how they choose to invest their money.

Faith-based, or values-based, investing is a subset of socially responsible investing, but its focus is often narrower and usually seeks to exclude stocks, bonds, and funds in certain industries or themes. This type of investing can offer peace of mind that your money does not support certain companies and their products that you view as opposed to your convictions. And although such an investing strategy may deliver lower returns versus a portfolio that would have included those “taboo” investments, many investors justify it in the name of making the world a better place.

Values-based mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are similar to traditional investment vehicles in that their prospectus lays out their investment process, company valuation metrics, portfolio construction, and risk management best practices alongside standard investment considerations. What makes these funds different is that they layer on additional criteria when selecting securities.

Values-based investing focuses mostly on excluding or screening out industries, rather than taking a best-in-class environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing approach, where people buy the most highly rated companies in every industry. The style can be broken down into two types: faith-based investing and secular-values investing.

In recent decades, many faith groups have created their own mutual funds and ETFs as vehicles to invest their organizations’ money in a manner consistent with their religious beliefs and ethical codes. There are several types of faith-based mutual funds available, including those designed for Catholics, Protestants, and Sharia-compliant funds for Muslims. Investors don’t need to be a member of the particular religion to buy the funds.

Many faith-based funds, regardless of religion, exclude investments that involve:

Some funds may also screen companies involved in:

Some religious funds screen out companies that support LGBTQIA+ rights.

Islamic funds exclude pork producers. Islam also forbids usury, which meant for a long time that all interest-bearing vehicles like bonds were off limits. However, Islamic finance has evolved to create a new asset class of bond-like investments called “sukuk,” which are Islamic investment certificates that represent undivided ownership in an underlying asset, and thus entitled to returns on that asset. Under the sukuk structure, returns aren’t considered “interest” and thus eligible for investment under Sharia law.

Values-based restrictions can eliminate defense contractors, drug companies, energy companies, insurance companies, media companies, and even retailers, depending on their parameters. Some are excluded completely, while other screens will allow a company to be included in holdings if its total revenues from “undesirable” business lines are less than 50%.

In recent years, some people have approached values investing from a secular viewpoint, particularly when it comes to climate change or protecting the environment. These investors want to exclude certain industries entirely because they feel passionate about avoiding fossil fuels producers or firearms manufacturers, for example.

Some values-based funds partner with nonprofit organizations. The charity receives part of the annual expense fee investors pay to own the fund, or the fund issuer makes an annual donation to the organization in exchange for licensing the charity’s name.

Just as with broader socially responsible investing, values-based investing requires due diligence. Don’t simply pick an ETF or mutual fund with a certain name; look at the fund’s prospectus to learn about the fund’s mission and how it selects or screens out companies. The nuances of how these funds interpret religious tenets will vary beyond the major “sin” stocks.

The prospectus may also show that there’s a risk of underperformance versus the broader market when certain excluded sectors are in favor with market cycles. For example, in 2022, the energy sector surged by more than 60%, while most other sectors were down by double digits. Any values-based funds that did not own fossil fuel companies likely underperformed the broader market.

Another way to build a values-based portfolio is to select individual stocks in a brokerage account. This gives you more control, letting you choose the stocks you want to own and avoid the ones you don’t. In recent years, major brokerage firms have moved to a zero-commission cost structure, making it easier for smaller investors to buy individual stocks in small chunks—a few shares or a single share, for example. Some brokers allow you to accumulate fractional shares.

Again, this takes work. Not only should you read each company’s balance sheet data, but you’ll also need to read through additional information such as the firm’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports. These documents assess how a company’s operations impact its stakeholders and community.

A thorough CSR report should include:

You could also consider working with a financial advisor who’s familiar with both your investing goals and your personal values to help you build a portfolio that aligns with both.

Faith-based and values-based investing are a niche within socially responsible investing. If you embrace certain beliefs in your everyday life, and you want your financial holdings to reflect those beliefs, it’s worth considering.

But remember: If you plan to exclude whole market sectors and industries, there may be times when your portfolio underperforms the market.

Investing is about finding the style that works for you and sticking to your strategy through market cycles. The best investments for you are the ones that meet your objectives. In a way, your values are your objectives.