Tag Archives: Morally Responsible Investing

Families and Wealth

Posted on by

Advisors are who people turn to for guidance about charitable giving. A recent study from U.S. Trust and The Philanthropic Initiative found that advisors sometimes fail to put more emphasis on an individual’s or family’s experience with their wealth, and overestimate the importance of tax benefits as their motivation for giving.

Albeit the survey included not just wealth advisors, but also trust and estate attorneys, accountants, and other tax professionals, it is still notable that clients care about their advisor’s ability to discuss personal values and how these values affect their personal investment, giving, and charitable goals.

wisely-invested money growingClients want their advisor to give advice based on personal motivations for giving, a passion for a cause, the effect that their giving has on their community and a strong desire to give back.

Clients want to be connected to nonprofit organizations that share their passion, and they want to know their gifts are being used wisely. We believe that not spending time exploring a family’s experience with their wealth—and digging deep to find motivation to help nonprofits whose missions “connect” with an event or situation personally experienced—can mean missed opportunities for donors to do good in areas that are important to them.

At the Stewardship Foundation, it’s clear that we are passionate about our four tenets: respect for life, marriage being between a man and a woman, religious freedom, and rights of conscience. We believe that it’s our responsibility to care for the poor, the sick and the disadvantaged, and for every woman, man, and child whose life is impacted with lack of education, opportunity and freedom.

We believe in transformational giving, the kind that comes from the heart, and that changes lives in our community and in the greater world. We are firm in our commitment to knowledge about structured giving—charitable trusts, donor-advised funds, and the rest—but in practice, we believe it starts with a balanced conversation between the technical tools to reach financial goals and the personal reasons for doing so.

If you’d like to explore your family’s experience with wealth to better charter your giving, please call us at (614) 800-7985 and please share this with someone you believe might benefit from our balanced advisory services.

Searching For A Moral Compass

Posted on by

As portfolio managers, we are tasked to look out for our customers—to offer higher returns, lower risk, and efficient tax avoidance while we grow their accounts and provide income in retirement. As stewards of our customer’s portfolios, we strive to the do the right thing in terms of selecting investment products that build up society, do good, and follow Christian principles.

There is often confusion about the difference between Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) and Morally Responsible Investing (MRI). We’ll try to make it simple.

Initially, SRI was used to describe investing in companies that did not profit from “bad” things like tobacco, alcohol, gambling, and firearms. The perception was that these companies promoted sickness, mental and physical abuse, failed relationships, bad habits, and even death. The term focused on which companies one would avoid, not what to invest in, but that has changed. Now SRI seeks out companies that do good—such as alternative energy/clean technologies, community organizations that provide needed services to the poor and disadvantaged, and others that improve the quality of life and reduce reliance on welfare. The focus is on society, not necessarily moral or ethical good as defined by Christian conscience.

moral compassMRI is a subset of SRI but is different because it screens out companies engaged in abortion, embryonic stem cell research, and pornography. It’s pro-life and pro-family. It’s a pillar of the Stewardship Foundation. MRI appeals to investors who want to buy into specific funds that match their moral compass.

As SRI investing became more popular (over $40 trillion in 2016), the term Impact Investing found its way onto the investment stage. The term refers to investing in companies that do the right thing. It actively targets firms, funds, or projects that provide a measurable benefit to society as a whole. Not limited to stocks, mutual funds, or ETFs, it includes private equity, venture capital, and debt investment programs. Investors in this arena are actively participating by putting their money where their mouth is.

Remember that the Stewardship Foundation’s endgame is financial growth for our clients. Whether you are saving for retirement or using your wealth to actively make the world a better place, the road we help you choose is paved with a Christian moral compass.

When Political Correctness is Morally Wrong

Posted on by

America is in decline. We are obsessively committed to diversity, tolerance, compassion, and niceness. Political correctness has become a cancer on our society. We are afraid to voice our religious beliefs and defend the moral issues that are the very foundation of our Christian culture and heritage.

If we oppose same-sex marriage we lack compassion. If we oppose the celebrity status of Bruce Jenner’s one-upmanship on his Creator, we are bigots. If we want learning English to be mandatory for immigrants so they have a chance to succeed in America,
we are divisive. If we support our police officers, we are racists.

In a speech to the Department of Justice in 2009, Eric Holder referred to us as “nation of cowards” on race-related issues. Regardless of our opinion of the former Attorney General, we are cowards—in our discussions of racial tension,
homosexuality, same-sex marriage, abortion, women’s rights, and the rest; the majority of us aren’t speaking out.

Where is the charity, chastity, duty, Godliness, honesty, honor, industriousness, respect for authority, work ethic, and self-reliance? They are here, but they are the new silent majority, standing alone in a cacophony of politically correct noise.

At the Stewardship Foundation, we are not afraid to stand up for what we believe. We courageously ask that if you want to contribute to the rebuilding of America’s backbone, stand up and speak out about your convictions—in your home, at work, in
the world, and with your investing. Please call us for a conversation about how your family or your organization can benefit from our pro-life and pro-family Morally Responsible Investing tools that screen out companies engaged in abortion, embryonic
stem cell research, and pornography. Together, we can make a difference.