Episode 221 – Marks on the Market: The State of Faith-Based Investing | Tim Macready

Tim Macready of Brightlight joins Richard Cunningham and Luke Roush to unpack the third annual State of Faith-Based Investing in Public Markets report — and the picture is both challenging and deeply encouraging. Faith-based funds averaged 16% returns in 2025 but trailed benchmarks by nearly 2.5%, driven largely by exclusions of Magnificent Seven stocks. The question isn’t whether faith-based investing works — it’s whether the right frameworks and products are in place to deliver both conviction and performance.

This Marks on the Market deep-dive covers the full landscape: the explosion of ETF product offerings, why the faith-driven market lags the secular market on roughly a five-year cycle, the theological complexity of screening decisions in a world where human trafficking and online child safety matter as much as tobacco and gambling, and the emerging “nutrition label” approach to fund disclosures that could transform how investors evaluate products. Tim also outlines the practical “core satellite” framework — low-cost passive exposure at the core, active engage/embrace strategies at the satellite — that advisors can use to build portfolios that are both faith-aligned and performance-competitive.

Richard and Luke close with a candid theological question: can a faith-driven investor hold any of the Magnificent Seven to the glory of God? The answer requires the kind of missional clarity, theological depth, and accountability structures that Tim argues the entire market must pursue. This episode is essential listening for any investor, advisor, or fund manager who cares about doing this well.

CHAPTERS

00:00 Introduction & April Marks on the Market

02:00 Tim Macready Background & Brightlight’s Research Mission

03:00 Third Annual Public Markets Report: Overview & Key Findings

04:11 Temperature Check: Mixed Results, Growing Market

05:18 What’s Driving Market Inflows and Outflows

07:00 How Big Is the Market and What Would Accelerate Growth

09:31 Clarity of Faith Screens: Strengths and Gaps

14:37 Where Product Supply Lags Advisor Demand

16:42 Negative Screening vs. Engagement vs. Embrace: What’s Most in Demand

18:37 Explaining the Avoid, Embrace, Engage Framework

20:44 ETFs vs. Mutual Funds: The Shifting Landscape

22:45 The Honest Performance Conversation

29:40 Secular Market Trends & the Core Satellite Framework

32:01 Theological Question: Can Faith Investors Hold the Mag Seven?

37:20 Luke Roush on Missional Clarity and Asset Manager Discernment

39:35 Engaging Fund Families When There’s a Gap Between Talk and Walk

42:42 What’s Next: Nutrition Labels for Faith-Based Funds

44:37 Closing Priorities and What God Is Teaching

46:51 Luke Roush: 1 Corinthians 13 and Seeing in Part

48:12 Tim Macready: Jesus on the Throne, 1 John, and Loving Brothers and Sisters

50:24 Where to Find the Brightlight Report