The Christian faith is paradoxical. 

by Efosa Ojomo

One evening, Jesus and his disciples were spotted having dinner with a whole bunch of sinners and tax collectors. When the “teachers of the law” confronted his disciples about their conspicuously bad decision to fellowship with “bad people,” Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” And just like that, what seemed to be a bad decision takes on new meaning. Clearly, it is only by helping the sick that everyone can become healthy.

Similarly, innovation, and more specifically, investing in innovation, is also a paradox. True investing seeks to create goodness, wealth, and value from a place where there is little; in some cases, where there is nothing. Good investors see opportunity where others see problems; they see potential and promise where others see poverty. Faith driven investors, often motivated by their Christian beliefs and the opportunity to create value for others, are a powerful force for good in a world that so desperately needs it. Consider Philip Osafo-Kwaako’s story. 

Philip’s path to entrepreneurship and investing may seem unconventional, but it’s motivated by his singular vision to transform poverty to prosperity. Precocious from a young age, Philip earned engineering and economics degrees from MIT and completed graduate studies at Oxford and Harvard. After his doctorate, he worked as a consultant, and advised at the highest level of government in Zambia, Nigeria, and the Middle East. Although he was successful, he couldn’t help but be burdened by the opportunity to make life better for hundreds of millions of people in Africa. And so he quit his incredibly lucrative job, pooled some resources together and purchased Akosombo Industrial Company Limited (AICL), a producer of traditional African wax prints based in Ghana. AICL currently employs more than 700 people, the largest employer in Akosombo, and counts Joann Fabrics and Craft Stores as a client. Although Philip is motivated by his faith to do good in his community, as an economist, he understands the numbers.

By 2030, there will be more than 1.5 billion potential customers in Africa for African print fabric. As Africa’s population increases, and as the continent implements the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, this market alone could reach ten billion dollars by 2030. West Africa, where Ghana is located, is also the 6th largest cotton producing area globally and has close proximity to American and European markets. The potential for Philip’s AICL to create a business that changes thousands of lives is apparent. But this is neither a Ghana nor Africa phenomenon. It is a global phenomenon that presents a unique opportunity for faith driven investors and entrepreneurs to create value for billions of people. 

Why this is important

Before the Covid-19 pandemic wreaked havoc across the globe, only 15% of people globally lived on more than $8 a day ($2,920 annually). Predictably, wealthy economies spent more to provide relief to the citizens in their economies while poorer economies spent significantly less. Since the pandemic, economists estimate that around 100 million people will slide back into extreme poverty. While this might signal doom and gloom for the average reader, it should point to opportunity for the faith driven investor. 

For example, when millions of people in wealthy economies were receiving stimulus checks, those in low-income economies were asked to shelter in place, with nothing. In some countries, like Honduras, the pandemic was followed by natural disasters that left hundreds of thousands homeless. In East Africa, swarms of locusts exacerbated an already difficult harvesting season that doubled the number of people who would experience food shortages. Could these signal an opportunity to create a low-cost insurance product for the billions of people globally who lack access? Could this be the kind of problem a faith driven investor decides to solve, not only because it will help people, but also because it will generate returns, create wealth, and unlock value for the world? 

There are no easy solutions to the many problems the world faces. But, for the faith driven investor, there is a template. Just like Jesus, who sought out those whom society had cast out, the faith driven investor must equally seek to invest in places where there seems to be little to no opportunity; at least on the surface. It is not until we change the lens with which we assess opportunities, that we will begin to see differently.

by David Snyder

I believe that there are two justifications for man’s work in the Bible. One is for your work to be an opportunity to support your ministry, like the example of Paul. The second is for your work to be a platform for your ministry, like the example of Daniel. I am fortunate to be called to the second justification, and I find myself challenged with the responsibility to look at my profession as an opportunity to affect the lives of others and to emulate the love of Christ in all that I do.

But how does one use his profession as a platform for ministry? Sometimes our lives reflect functioning in a secular fashion during the week, while allowing God to speak to us on the weekends. (Where in the world did that come from?) Being a “Catalytic Christian” is a lifestyle, a 24/7 lifestyle. It is not a weekend endeavor. Effectively, using your profession as a platform for ministry is easier to understand if you consider two aspects to your profession.

• There is the function of what you do, and…

• There is the purpose of what you do.

The function of a race car, driven by Jeff Gordon, has the same function as my wife’s car. The function is to turn potential energy into kinetic energy, thus providing thrust. So, what is the difference in the function of a Christian investment firm and a non-Christian investment firm? I would argue that there is no difference in the function. Both firms are called to adhere to a methodology to protect their investors’ capital and to make it grow.

The big difference lies in the purpose of what we do. The purpose of Jeff Gordon’s car is much different than my wife’s car, even though the function is similar. The purpose of our investment company is much different than that of a secular company, even though our functions are similar. Our function is similar to secular investment companies, but our purpose is to make an active difference in the lives of those in our professional sphere of influence. We are dedicated to impact tomorrow through the relationships we have with our investors, employees, stakeholders, residents, and vendors.

Function and Purpose of Continental Realty Group – How We Respond to Current Events

I have previously mentioned the “function” of our firm. Our function is to protect our investors’ capital and to produce the most advantageous monetary returns possible.

While our function is one of the wings that keeps our corporate airplane flying, the other corporate airplane wing is our “purpose.” I believe that we have a purpose and opportunity to affect the lives of our investors, residents, and employees spiritually, educationally, personally, and financially in a very constructive manner. We have the ability to help determine what Tomorrow’s World looks like.

• Preparing for Tomorrow’s World – We can prepare for tomorrow, which is constantly changing, by ensuring that the business, the assets it manages, and the people it works with are ready for the heightened pressures, growing responsibilities, and new opportunities in the markets of tomorrow so that we can consistently outperform through the cycles of the future. The following statistics are supported and expounded upon in my attached PowerPoint on multifamily investment:

  • 37% of US Households are renters, and this number is growing.

  • 9 million new rental households have been created over the past decade.

  • Home ownership is at 63% and is falling.

  • Vacancy nationwide, in multi-family real estate, is approximately 5%.

  • 98% of renter households do not have a church home.

  • Housing demand is escalating:

    • Boomers are renting at higher rates than ever before.

    • Gen X is remaining renters longer in life.

    • Millennials are renting in higher amounts due to their mobility.

    • Gen Z is on its way and is even bigger than the millennials.

More people in our society are going to be living in multi-family communities in greater numbers—and for longer—than ever before in our history. This is a major demographic change—and opportunity—that the church today can use for Kingdom growth. Many residents, of all income levels, will never own a home in their lifetimes. Many families will be raised in multi-family communities. 

• Investing in Tomorrow’s World – We can invest in Tomorrow’s World, which is currently at stake, with investment strategies focused on opportunities that safeguard and enhance value for investors, whilst making a lasting and positive difference in the cities and people of tomorrow. We can do this by:

  • Adapting rental communities to allow individuals and families to develop and thrive. Live-Work-Play designs and community programs allow for healthy lifestyles and spiritual development.

  • Designing and building new communities to support the families of tomorrow—single family rental communities designed with healthy community living in mind.

• Helping to create Tomorrow’s World – We can help to create Tomorrow’s World, which supports thriving communities, businesses, and ecosystems, by creating outstanding places for people in the communities of tomorrow—where community-wide prosperity is unlocked, and environmental systems are restored. We can create:

  • Community programs for social relationship of all income levels.

  • Community programs for educational advancement and motivation.

  • Community programs for social and spiritual development.

• Being ready to be a part of Tomorrow’s World – Continental Realty Group is an active and positive corporate citizen, engaged and influential in the business of tomorrow, with:

  • Sanctuary initiatives to support our residents through local crises and pandemics.

  • Mentoring and educational initiatives to promote excellence.

  • Spiritual development initiatives to foster Godly relationships.

  • New construction and affordable housing initiatives.

  • Long-term ownership and impact-investing initiatives.

We intentionally strive to impact tomorrow.

We strive to impact the future of our residents.
We strive to impact the future of our investors.
We strive to impact the future of our team members & employees.
We strive to impact the future of our families and the families of our residents.

The Opportunity

Being a multi-family owner provides the opportunity to “walk alongside” of our residents through life. It can be a paraclete relationship where we earn the right to walk beside our residents as they traverse the path of life that they are on. A property management professional that is in-tune with his/her community knows who just got a promotion at work, who just lost their job, whose mother just died, who is battling depression, and who is struggling with family issues, etc. We have the opportunity not only to create relationships but also to earn the right to speak into our residents’ lives— to comfort them, to celebrate with them, to offer them advice, to support them in prayer, to educate them, and to encourage them to grow into the best person that they can be. We have the ability to influence what Tomorrow’s World looks like.

• We are living in a day where many people in our society will never own a home in their lifetime. They will raise their families in multi-family communities and navigate life from that perspective.

• This represents an opportunity that is staring us right in the face. What are we willing to do about it?

How many multi-family communities do you drive by on your way to church each week? How many multi-family communities are within a 5-mile radius of your church? What is the church’s response today to the thousands of unchurched people living in close proximity?

Community Care Response by Our Property Management Personnel and Our Cares Teams During Crisis

We take great pride in partnering with management companies and working to hire the best qualified property management personnel, who have a heart to serve others. Additionally, we have always initiated Cares Teams on our properties, whose responsibility is to promote “community” with our residents and to identify with and meet their social, personal development, and spiritual needs. These teams dedicate 50 hours a month to ministry and relationship development in every one of our multi-family communities. These teams have a 20-year history at Continental. We feel that our staff is uniquely prepared to make a difference when our communities face crises.

Our property management and Cares Teams are daily serving our residents. Today, our residents deal with isolation and a lack of information. Our staff is taking every step possible to meet these needs.

• They are identifying “at risk” residents on each property that we own and maintaining contact to assess their needs. Management personnel are coordinating any necessary response.

• They are organizing delivery efforts of food and medicine to residents who do not want to venture out in public.

• Management and Cares Teams are now organizing and coordinating social services and local church aid to residents of our properties.

• They are providing personal check-ins via postcards, calls, emails, and texts.

• They facilitate online and virtual connections to create relationships and influence.

• They host virtual gatherings to facilitate community.

• They assist with package delivery for high-risk or isolated residents.

We want our residents to feel fortunate that they are in a Continental community.

Call to Action

I encourage US investors and CEF participants to contemplate how they can change their investment strategy through intentional living.

• Intentionally decide to make a difference in what Tomorrow’s World looks like, while receiving a competitive return on your investment.

• Intentionally encourage your local church to actively embrace the multi-family communities around them and reap the rewards of an additional local ministry outreach.

• Intentionally encourage Christian Universities to consider a curriculum in servanthood and property management to populate and change an industry that affects over 1/3 of our population.

• Be mindful of the function and purpose of all of your investment activities. We

In Closing

I want my life and my company to stand for excellent function and for Christ’s purpose. We take our function of investment performance to our investors very seriously, and we are honored to be a significant part of our investors’ and our residents’ lives, providing the ultimate purpose. I believe that we have an opportunity at CRG to affect the lives of others in a very constructive manner.

I hope that any fear of the current pandemic and economic challenges will be replaced with optimistic anticipation of the wonderful things that come from working together for a successful future for all.

While this paper shares the ministry aspect and the ministry opportunity in investing in multi-family housing, as an addendum to this paper, I have included a presentation showing the economic evidence for practical, Kingdom investment opportunities in multi-family housing.

——

Article originally hosted and shared with permission by The Christian Economic Forum, a global network of leaders who join together to collaborate and introduce strategic ideas for the spread of God’s economic principles and the goodness of Jesus Christ. This article was from a collection of White Papers compiled for attendees of the CEF’s Global Event.

by Amanda Lawson

It is so much more than a butterfly effect. It is a gut-check, or more accurately, a heart-check. Investing—whether you deem it “impact” or not—has power to affect change. If it didn’t, no one would participate; you wouldn’t invest in a venture that wasn’t poised to produce in some way. Understanding that investment decisions inherently make a value-statement about ventures, entrepreneur-founders, and the intended target audiences, we’re bringing in one of the wisest voices in the conversation. Finny Kuruvilla, of Eventide Funds, is a trusted and close friend of the faith driven investor community. One of his great passions is calling investors to check their hearts and consider the impacts of their investment practices. 

Finny has shared on the responsibility of faith driven investors to engage in ethical investing practices at every stage. He was a guest on the FDI podcast (see episode 16: “How Investing Shapes the World”) and has contributed several pieces challenging investors to a higher standard in ethical investing. Join us at the Faith Driven Investor Conference to hear from Finny as he dives deeper into the need for investors to understand the ramifications of their investment decisions. In addition to what is sure to be an exciting challenge, we anticipate real-world examples of how ethical, faith-driven investing has been used to impact and change the world for the glory of God and the sake of the gospel.

by David Park

In Counterfeit Gods, Tim Keller writes that an idol is “anything more important to you than God, anything that absorbs your heart and imagination more than God, and anything that you seek to give you what only God can give.” Few Christ followers set out to make something an idol, to find security and significance in something other than God. Yet we know, as Calvin said, that our hearts are idol making factories. For me, I had made idols of good things – a beautiful family, thriving friendships, and a growing company. But even good things make terrible gods. There was tremendous stress and pressure both at work and in my relationships with my extended family. Most days I could convince myself that everything was fine, but it never was. Despite everything I knew about where I should find my sense of identity and worth, I had found too much of it in something other than my relationship with God.

The reality of this finally became clear in early 2017. While putting our three boys to bed, they started complaining about something they hadn’t been able to do that day, seemingly forgetting about all the good things that had occurred. Our children, it seemed to me, were not just ungrateful for what they had received that day, but they were unaware of the privilege they lived in generally. Something in me snapped, and I got angry – a desperate, uncontrolled anger meant to scare my children into seeing the error of their ways. I will make sure they remember this. I yelled and screamed until they were huddled in the corner of the room, crying, with terror in their eyes.

Later that evening, I was stunned and heartbroken. I remembered being their age, trying to make sense of the anger in my household. My entire life, I had sworn I would never react the way I had that evening. I didn’t even know what had led me to be so afraid and angry that day, but I knew it wasn’t going to be a one-time event. The fear and anger had been there under the surface—it just came out at that moment of weakness.

Looking back, I could see the many signs God had placed in my path to try and wake me up. But it took a heartbreaking moment with my children for God to get my attention. He had been knocking on the door of my heart for years, and I had ignored Him with what I thought were reasonable excuses:

Nothing is wrong—look at how great everything is going!

I can’t deal with that issue . . . it would rock the boat too much.

What would people think if they knew I had this problem?

For the last three years, I have been on a journey of trying to understand how I got to that breaking point. It seemed like I had been doing and learning all the right things. But there was a disconnect between my head and my heart. Despite what I professed to believe, I had put tremendous value in the performance of my business and family over my relationships with God and others. There were things I believed deep in my heart that I needed to better understand. Hidden beneath the veneer of my shiny, put-together life was a fragile identity in Christ. 

God, in His grace, put me on a new path. I am still early on the journey, but I have discovered a freedom and security in abiding with Christ that I have never known before. After reflecting on the last three years, the following is a list of four areas that I have found to be critical in my journey of drawing closer to Christ. 

Part I – Practice spiritual disciplines (and learn new ones)

“You got to take theological truths, gospel truths and you got to pray them, sing them, counsel them, worship them, you have to meditate on them, you have to get them in your heart until they catch fire down there.” – Tim Keller

Formation through spiritual disciplines – these are the group of practices that are designed to teach Biblical truth, remind us of it, and have that truth penetrate into the deep parts of our minds and hearts. We need a steady diet of these practices. Until three years ago, however, the focus of my walk with God was almost exclusively on how well I was able to practice the spiritual disciplines I was aware of at the time. They became another way to measure my performance, and I was not connecting with God in my heart. In recent years, growth has come more from learning how to be with God and not perform for God. This has often been through the practice of silence and other disciplines that I was not familiar with from my church tradition. Still, I came to realize that there were other areas of the journey that needed attention as well.

Part II – Embrace limits

“Often we have larger fantasies and wishes for ourselves than our real lives can support. As a result, we work frantically trying to do more than God intended. We burn out thinking we can do more than we can.” – Pete Scazzero

Though Jesus himself rested and structured his ministry around time with the Father, it was often easier for me to do everything but rest or take a sabbath. This refusal to rest was indicative of other limits I didn’t want to accept, like the limits of my abilities, family, marriage, and spiritual understanding.

What’s so difficult, and necessary, about rest and slowing down is that when we rest, we become very aware of our limitations. Rest exposes our inability to fix or manage what’s inside, and we experience the discomfort that comes with not being able to resolve everything with our own power. This can make us feel vulnerable, but it also deepens our dependence on God. More than just accepting limits, embracing limits is a cornerstone of a healthy identity in Christ. He is God – we are not. Spiritual maturity requires that we recognize and embrace limits.

Part III – Let yourself be known

“Vulnerability is not weakness, and the uncertainty, risk, and emotional exposure we face every day are not optional. Our only choice is a question of engagement. Our willingness to own and engage with our vulnerability determines the depth of our courage and the clarity of our purpose; the level to which we protect ourselves from being vulnerable is a measure of our fear and disconnection.” – Brene Brown

It is very difficult for me to ask for help, or to even acknowledge I need it. I would much rather bear with burdens on my own than share them with others. But I have found that a powerful and necessary way to strengthen my identity in Christ is to let myself be known to a number of trusted friends and advisors. I need a real support system, and that cannot be just one individual, even if that person is my wife. 

For many leaders, even those who are surrounded by people, there is too often an inner loneliness that comes with never truly being known by others. It is in this inner isolation that shame and insecurity can allow sin and deception to take root more quickly. No matter how confident or self-sufficient a person would like to be, there is always a need to address the reality of the brokenness within ourselves, our families, and our organizations. It is important to not go through that journey alone.

Part IV – Face your story

“As long as you keep secrets and suppress information, you are fundamentally at war with yourself…The critical issue is allowing yourself to know what you know. That takes an enormous amount of courage.” – Bessel A. van der Kolk

Now comes perhaps the hardest part. Much of what I thought was formative to me as an adult was only part of the story. In fact, my story began before I was born, with the patterns of thoughts and behavior that I inherited from my family of origin. No family is perfect, and that is ok. Our family origins are not our destiny, but ignoring them is fighting the good fight with one hand tied behind our backs. 

It is the same with the hardest parts of our childhoods and life stories. Andy Maurer says that trauma results in disconnection in four primary relationships: with ourselves (as we hide parts of who we are), with others, with God, and with our work (as we turn to work to find our meaning and purpose). These traumas do not need to define us, but they have shaped us in ways that need to be acknowledged and healed. Very often, the beliefs and behaviors we adopted to survive difficult experiences are the very beliefs and behaviors that are keeping us from truly growing in the security and significance that rests on the finished work of Jesus.

By working through family of origin patterns, practicing forgiveness, and healing from trauma, the soil in my heart became far more receptive to the truth that I was a beloved child of God. In conjunction with the other parts mentioned above, what had been mostly head knowledge became a reality much deeper in my heart. This deeper, more secure understanding of my identity has transformed my life, work, and relationships. 

If there is one thing I hope you remember from reading this post, it’s this: keeping your identity in Christ when the going gets tough is not primarily an intellectual endeavor nor a matter of willpower. The lengthy and growing list of leaders who have every intellectual understanding of right and wrong, and still choose the destructive path, will hopefully convince you of this truth.

So where to begin? I encourage you to take the first step of leaving your comfort zone and exploring any one of the parts above that is unfamiliar to you. This first step will naturally lead you to another. If one part of the journey is frustrating to you, take a break, try something else, and come back to the part that was hard. God will meet you on your way and provide everything you need to continue – His power is truly made perfect in our weakness. 

The journey will be difficult at times, and uncomfortable, but well worth the effort. This is the path to increasing freedom from besetting sins, toxic relationships, and deep insecurities. A stronger, more secure identity in Christ will not just benefit you in seasons of trial – it will change the trajectory of your life, your family, and your organization. 

—

Resources for the journey:

If you would like a fresh, thoughtful take on ancient spiritual disciplines reimagined for the marketplace leader, I would recommend Spiritual Disciplines for Your Work from the Denver Institute of Faith and Work: https://denverinstitute.org/spiritual-disciplines-for-your-work/. 

For a synthesis of a lifetime of exploring the connection between emotional health, spiritual maturity, and leadership, I recommend Pete Scazzero’s books and materials. Read the first chapter of Emotionally Healthy Spirituality and go from there.

To break through hardened soil in your heart, consider a retreat or intensive experience. Getting out of your daily routine and spending one or more days with other people who are going on this journey can move the needle in ways that an hour a week simply cannot. I recommend We Want More, Ransomed Heart, Onsite, and others like them.

by Jerry Gray

I have worked as national sales consultant for Praxis Mutual Funds for nearly a quarter century. This experience has put me on the frontline of sharing the power of faith-based investing with advisors across the country. Faith-based investing is an investment practice that aims to provide competitive investor returns while aligning investments with their core values. This summer, my career will come to a close, providing me with a moment to reflect. Through the years, I have witnessed tremendous change in the faith-based and sustainable investment field and learned many lessons along the way. Here are five things every advisor should know about faith-based investing. 

1. Change is the only constant.

When I began my work at Praxis, we were like John the Baptist crying out in the wilderness. People thought we were odd and doubted our funds would perform well. Despite the fact that faith-based investors were among the original modern sustainable investors, when I started my career, the practice of integrating faith and finances was still unfamiliar. Furthermore, Praxis’ preferred approach of index investing was not widely adopted. 

Fast forward to today, and sustainable investing and environmental, social and governance (ESG) are buzzwords in the investing industry. Since the first publication of the biennial US SIF Foundation Trends report in 1995, the sustainable investing industry has grown more than 25-fold, from assets totaling $639 billion to $17.1 trillion in 2020. BlackRock’s Larry Fink’s annual letters to CEOs have increasingly referenced ESG, including citing climate as an investment risk and even calling sustainability “God’s work.” What’s more, index investing is now widely embraced for its low cost and consistent performance.

Advisors should expect the industry to continue evolving as the world changes. 

2. Authenticity matters. 

Not all sustainable or faith-based investing funds were created equally. As the practice has gained in popularity, more firms are “bolting on” additional sustainable offerings – some less authentic than others. Advisors should do their research and look for established players with solid track records. Beyond the traditional performance ratings, look at the funds’ record on shareholder engagement and community investing. And no, rubber stamping of proxy ballots does not count as engagement. 

3. Be ready to meet clients at any point on their stewardship journeys. 

Clients may not be interested in ESG or faith-based investing at this moment, but they might be in a year, or five. Maybe their grandkids will get them into it, or they will stumble upon an article describing the practice and approach you with questions. The moment they are ready, you’d better be too. 

This is an exciting time for the industry. Competitive performance is achievable, and more people are interested in integrating their deeply held beliefs with their finances. 

4. Find commonalities in values.

People are increasingly interested in integrating their values into all aspects of their lives. If a client recycles and tries to bike more, they might also be interested in having their investments reflect their commitment to environmental stewardship. The financial crisis of 2008 made people more conscious about their core values. I believe the same has happened this past year with COVID and the other important conversations around injustice that our country has experienced. 

Even investors coming from communities that seem drastically different may have more values in common than you think. There is a reason why the Praxis Impact Bond Fund is consistently one of our most popular. The fund has routinely invested in a way that supports developing economies – a goal that many investors value.  

As a fund family that serves communities holding a variety of belief systems, we have learned that we can make the largest impact when we look for shared core values. This lesson would serve advisors well who are interested in meeting their clients’ diverse beliefs and interests. It can be helpful to frame conversations around core values rather than more narrow hot-button issues or labels that can distract from the actual impact an investment could have.  

5. Don’t overthink it. 

BRI, ESG, SRI*… The alphabet soup of sustainable investing can be overwhelming. Clients hire advisors to figure out the confusing part and provide them what they need to know to make informed investing decisions that fit their values. They do not come to you to get into the weeds. Build an understanding of their desired investing principles but remember that you control the conversation and don’t make it more complicated than it needs to be. 

Conclusion

At Praxis Mutual Funds, we believe that God owns it all and we are simply stewards. Every day, we ask ourselves how we can best steward those resources. This goes beyond how we treat our physical neighbors to include financial decisions that impact our “neighbors” around the world and even the planet itself. For me, it has been an honor to share this message with advisors and their clients over the past 23 years. Being a part of your journey helping clients integrate finance and faith is an opportunity to make a meaningful impact on their portfolios and their lives. 

by John Coleman

This spring, a tiny investment firm made waves by disrupting one of the world’s largest companies. Five months earlier, the upstart investment manager Engine No. 1 began lobbying Exxon to more aggressively confront climate change. Though Engine No. 1 owned only 0.02% of the shares of the energy giant, it convinced the asset managers who control massive holdings of almost every publicly traded firm in the world—Blackrock, State Street, and Vanguard—to back its play; and on May 26th the little activist investor gained two board seats at Exxon and a mandate to radically revamp one of the largest organizations in the world. 

Activist investing is, of course, nothing new. Christians helped to ignite the trend when in 1971, holding just 0.004% of General Motors shares, the Episcopal Church offered a resolution at GM’s annual meeting to cease manufacturing operations in apartheid South Africa. The move was supported by GM’s lone black board member, Dr. Leon Sullivan, a pastor of the Zion Baptist Church in Philadelphia. It was ultimately defeated, garnering only 1.29% of the vote, but ended up shifting G.M.’s policies in South Africa resulting in the adoption by IBM and GM of the “Sullivan Principles” in 1976. Today, public battles over the direction of companies are often fought between activist groups, investors, and company management teams over issues as diverse as racial justice, voting rights, climate change, and gun control. 

Adjacent to the activist sphere, “impact investing,” investing which prioritizes a missional objective over returns, has swept the world—resulting in micro-finance to help entrepreneurs in developing nations, infrastructure for water and electricity in neglected areas, and other social initiatives from Malawi and Indonesia to the inner cities of Atlanta and Detroit. And ESG investing—which prioritizes holding companies accountable for positive “environmental, social, and governance” policies is now mandated by almost every large pension plan, endowment, foundation, and sovereign wealth fund in the world. One study has found nearly $38 trillion in assets are already ESG compliant globally, growing to $55 trillion over the next 4 years. And that number underestimates the percent of assets invested in public and private companies that have an explicit social agenda.

Long prior to the Episcopal Church’s righteous stand against apartheid, the religious faithful recognized the need for this kind of values-based investing. Muslim Shariah compliant funds have been around since the 1960s, based on principles espoused in the Quran. Jewish law in Biblical times mandated certain provisions related to ethical investing. 

And Christians have a long history of recognizing the importance of the impact our money can have. In the 1800s, John Wesley encouraged Methodists to avoid profiting at the expense of their neighbors, avoiding investments in alcohol, tobacco, weapons, and gambling. Quakers and Methodists both vigorously opposed the slave trade. And these decisions were grounded in Biblical principles.

The story of the Five Talents in Matthew 25 famously extolls the virtues of investing wisely and of growing and stewarding the resources God has given us. Ecclesiastes 7:2 reflects on the need to diversify, stating, “Invest in seven ventures, yes, in eight; you do not know what disaster may come upon the land.” The Bible’s most frequent demands, of course, are to give generously and to resist a love of money. But there’s also a call for those with material resources to use them for God’s kingdom more broadly. 

Now Christians are slowly reawakening to a principle much of the rest of society has already embraced: All investing is impact investing. Every dollar we put to work has impact, positive or negative, on the world around us. Large asset managers vote passive shares held by tens of millions of people around the world, often with defined agendas shareholders of those funds know little about. Hedge funds take over company boards and force change. And small venture and private equity firms own and guide the businesses in our local communities. Every day, the holdings of individual men and women in 529 and 401k plans, individual accounts, defined benefit plans, and donor advised funds are quietly shaping the culture and agenda of corporations, start-ups, and small businesses around the world. And right now, your dollars are at work for these purposes whether you know it or not.

But Investing is hard. And few individuals or institutions have the capacity to analyze every investing decision they make for its social impact. So, what can the average Christian institution or individual do? A few thoughts:

1. Make conscious decisions about your investing strategy and values. You or your institution (e.g., pension plan, endowment, employer) likely have a giving strategy or a corporate mission. You also operate by a set of values. What are the values you hope to reinforce with your investing? And what is your strategy for impact? Take a moment to actually write down a mission and values for your investment dollars and contemplate those areas (e.g., international development, healthcare, education, etc.) in which you hope to have the greatest effect. This is particularly important for charitable dollars. We are often very thoughtful about our giving strategy. But many charitable foundations distribute as few as 5% of their assets annually without being similarly thoughtful about the impact of the 95% that remains invested. Learning to consider the impact of the 90% of our dollars which are invested versus the 10% or less which are given is an essential path to more holistic social impact. 

2. Support firms and leaders aligned with your values. Few individuals or institutions have the capacity to both pursue market returns and vigilantly monitor the impact of the money they deploy. But you do have the option to invest through advisors and investment consultants and with asset managers or companies you can trust on your behalf—those which are mission-aligned and dedicated ensuring both financial success and impact. Trusting our capital to values-aligned parties can offer a shortcut to more careful investment choices. Today, a host of wealth managers and investment managers exist which are specifically faith-aligned. Leveraging them can allow you to have greater confidence that your values are being reflected in your investment decisions without you having to study every position you take.  

3. Use your voice. Most shareholder voting in America is guided by a few large firms—proxy voters like ISS and Glass Lewis and passive investors like Blackrock and Vanguard. As Engine No. 1 shows—marshaling the votes of those organizations can dramatically change a company’s direction. Talk to your index provider, investment manager, or advisor about issues important to you. If you hold individual stocks, use your shares to vote on important issues and make your voice heard. And if you’re an investor in venture or private equity funds, you can encourage your funds to represent your values with the companies they back—many of which may operate in your own community and over which these firms have great influence or control. 

In all of this, the perfect need not be the enemy of the good. We may decide not to weigh in on certain issues and to allow pluralism in beliefs on certain subjects in our portfolios. No company or investment firm will hold exactly our values, nor should they. But we can at least be conscious of the most important values our portfolios proactively represent. Almost all of us have a stake in global markets, and those stakes can have purpose. They can also be used to forward agendas and causes misaligned with your most fundamental beliefs. If all investing is impact investing, what impact will you have?

John Coleman is a Managing Partner at Sovereign’s Capital. You can sign up for his newsletter here.