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God’s Stewards: A Global Overview of Christian-Influenced Mutual Fund Providers

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Listed:
  • Joel Diener

    (Ingolstadt School of Management, Professorship for Christian Social Ethics and Social Policy, Catholic University Eichstätt-Ingolstadt, Auf der Schanz 49, 85049 Ingolstadt, Germany
    Joel Diener is a Ph.D. candidate at the Professorship for Christian Social Ethics and Social Policy at the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt.)

  • André Habisch

    (Ingolstadt School of Management, Professorship for Christian Social Ethics and Social Policy, Catholic University Eichstätt-Ingolstadt, Auf der Schanz 49, 85049 Ingolstadt, Germany)

Abstract

Despite a large amount of assets under management and a strong influence on the sustainable investment movement, very little is known about what ethical investing looks like from a Christian perspective. We therefore analyzed the ethical investment policies of a unique dataset of Christian-influenced mutual fund providers using a structured–thematic content analysis. In detail, we looked at investment screens, investment techniques, and the public presentation of non-financial investment objectives. We note that, by and large, there is no “Christian investing” in the sense of an ethical investment policy that most fund providers have similarly implemented. The proposed explanation for the diversity is that the policies are determined by differing approaches to interpreting biblical texts and by divergent social and political influence factors. However, we have detected a unifying element among most Christians-influenced mutual fund providers: the intention to positively influence their portfolio companies’ sustainability indicators.

Suggested Citation

  • Joel Diener & André Habisch, 2022. "God’s Stewards: A Global Overview of Christian-Influenced Mutual Fund Providers," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-24, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jjrfmx:v:15:y:2022:i:12:p:547-:d:981663
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    References listed on IDEAS

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