Faith-Based Investment Funds

 A variety of mutual funds cater to specific faiths and denominations, including ones that uphold Islamic, conservative Christian, Catholic, and Mennonite values. Here’s a sampling that may help you think more closely about what your own investments are funding:

Amana Growth and Income Funds (amanafunds.com) cater to Muslims by avoiding investing in companies that maintain interests in pork products or liquor. Because gambling and earning interest also defy Islamic principles, the Amana Funds avoid investing in companies involved with gambling or financial services.

MMA Praxis Funds (mma-online.org) target pacifist Mennonite investors by avoiding what they call “sin” investments: nuclear-energy providers, defense companies and U.S. Treasury bonds that support the Department of Defense.

Ave Maria Catholic Values Fund (avemariafund.com), in compliance with Catholic doctrine, avoids companies that are directly involved in abortion and contraception, such as insurance companies and HMOs that help to facilitate or perform elective abortions. According to the fund manager, Gregg Watkins of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, the Ave Maria Fund also shuns companies that peddle pornography or provide domestic-partner benefits for unmarried or homosexual couples.

The Timothy Plan® (timothyplan.com) is a family of Bible-based mutual funds. They are opposed to abortion, pornography, non-married lifestyles, alcohol, tobacco, and gambling.

The Catholic Funds (catholicknights.org) is a socially responsible investment (SRI) firm that advocates Catholic values and places stock in the value of transformation. In May 1999, the firm launched three actively managed equity funds that practiced exclusionary screening only. Three years later it merged the three into one index fund, the Catholic Equity Fund (ticker: CTHQX), which predominantly practices shareowner advocacy. In choosing engagement over exclusion, the Catholic Equity Fund seeks to improve corporate practice through patient dialogue, conscientious proxy voting, and resolution filing.