Faith & Finance: A Boom in Religious Funds

What if Jesus where a stock picker?

It’s a question more investors seem to be asking these days. At a time when investors’ confidence in the markets has been shaken—even after the big rally of 2009—experts say a growing number of Americans are integrating their faith with their finances. The number of religious mutual funds has tripled over the past decade, to more than 90—with one now available for almost every flock, from evangelical Christians to Mennonites and Muslims.

Religious funds now control more than $27 billion in assets, up from $10 billion in the late 1990s, making it one of the hottest sectors in the broader category of socially responsible funds. “People are waking up
and saying, ‘What I do with my money ought to reflect my values,’” says David Miller, a scholar at Princeton University’s Center for the Study of Religion.

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