New guide from church investors group empowers investors to align investment with Christian values

At its annual conference this week, Church Investors Group (CIG), formally launched a new guide to faith-consistent investing. The guide will enable Church groups to ensure that investment managers investing on their behalf manage their assets in a way that is aligned with Christian values.

With membership comprised of denominations, dioceses, religious orders and Christian-based charities, CIG promotes ethical investment for the public benefit. In doing so, it encourages the formulation of investment policies based on Christian ethical principles and drives responsible business practice through engagement with company management.

Entitled Working with your investment managers: A guide to support church investors considering faith-consistent approaches, the new guidance, while primarily for the group’s members, is publicly available for use by other Christian groups. The guidance helps Christians to engage constructively with their investment managers, recognising that Church investors will want to avoid making investments contrary to their beliefs, while also desiring to invest in a way that works towards tangible and positive social and/or environmental outcomes.

“As a coalition of Church investors with combined investment assets of over £26bn, we have faith in sustainable investment; but we also want our asset managers to have more room for faith,” said Stephen Beer, CIG Chair of Trustees.

“The role of Christian ethics, as well as risk management, is important for church investors. Exactly how will depend on their beliefs and investment objectives. This new guidance is designed to empower Church and other Christian-based asset owners to think about and describe their ethical or faith-based investment perspectives, and help them with a framework to put those Christian ethical perspectives at the heart of how they assess, select, appoint and monitor managers.

“Church investors should not have to make do with investment solutions which are not designed with Christian faith in mind. Our aim is to help members form long-term relationships with asset managers, built on mutual understanding, that enable both portfolios and humanity to flourish.”

The new guide’s launch follows last week’s Mensuram Bonam Conference for Catholic investors in London which sought to boost faith consistent investment for the estimated $1.75 trillion held by Christian investors around the world.

“This new guide provides clear and practical steps for faith-consistent investors to help us work in partnership with the asset management industry,” said Suzannah O’Brien, Trust Director of the Bishop Radford Trust, a CIG member.

“It outlines what is involved in manager selection, appointment and monitoring and provides guidance to help ensure that our values, beliefs, and policies are integrated in the management of our investments. Bishop Radford Trust will be making use of this invaluable new resource, and I hope it gives Christian investors greater confidence as they work in partnership with managers to embed our beliefs in day-to-day investment decisions.”

The guidance was prepared by sustainability consultants, Chronos Sustainability.

Dr Rory Sullivan, CEO of Chronos Sustainability, who co-authored the publication said: “At the heart of this project is a framework to help Christian investors set clear expectations for the asset managers who enact their mandates. This creates alignment right through the value chain in terms of the systems and processes they expect managers to have in place, the specific issues they expect managers to consider, and the outcomes and impacts they expect managers to achieve.

“This helps faith-consistent investors send a loud signal to the wider global investment markets, and while designed for Christian organisations, this guide should also prove invaluable to any mission-based organisation seeking to align its investment to its mission and values.”