The pope’s visit got us to thinking about exchange traded funds (ETFs) that invest with Catholic values in mind.
Why go socially responsible? If, for example, you’re anti-smoking, would you feel comfortable holding stock for a tobacco producer in your fund and profiting from those things you don’t believe in?
Boycotting the stock of such companies can eventually have an impact on those companies, too, if enough investors feel the way you do, says Michael Bluejay. If no one wants the stock, the price will go down.
There currently are no such ETFs that invest with a lean toward Catholic ideals, but there is a line of mutual funds:
- Ave Maria Catholic Values Fund (AVEMX), which is the largest Catholic fund at $130 million in assets
- Ave Maria Growth Fund (AVEGX)
- Ave Maria Bond Fund (AVEFX)
- Aquinas Small-Cap Fund (AQBLX)
- Aquinas Growth Fund (AQEGX)
George Schwartz, an investment advisor for Ave Maria, says most socially responsible funds are geared toward such things as environmentally friendly companies or those companies with a certain number of women on their boards, reports William Baue for Social Funds.
Ave Maria Funds screen out companies that contribute to Planned Parenthood, deal with pornography and those companies that offer non-marital partner benefits.
Whatever your investment philosophy, a list of socially responsible mutual funds of all types can be found at Social Funds.
While there aren’t any U.S.-listed religion-based ETFs yet, there are indexes based on certain religions. Dow Jones launched its first Dharmic religious indexes earlier this year, Index Universe reported on Seeking Alpha. They target members of the Dharmic religious: Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism. Dow Jones also offers the Dow Jones Islamic Indexes.