Boise, Idaho, February 3, 2022 - After nearly 18 years, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has updated its Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) Guidelines. Inspire Investing, a recognized leader in the Biblically Responsible Investing (BRI) and ESG Investing (Environmental, Social, Governance) movements, recognizes the influence that the Bishops’ Conference has in the faith-based investing space and is thrilled to see the Conference incorporate issues that have long been a focus for Inspire.
“We celebrate this much-needed update of the USCCB guidelines for our Catholic brothers and sisters that desire to glorify God with their investments,” said Robert Netzly, CEO of Inspire Investing. “Countless investors rely on these standards to guide them in their decisions, and as leaders, we need to ensure we are bringing our followers into total truth on all issues at hand.”
The new guidelines place a greater emphasis on the importance of shareholder engagement and make significant updates to areas concerning human life and dignity, the common good, and environmental stewardship. Of particular note for Inspire was their call to actively engage companies on issues of traditional marriage and human sexuality, as well as policy changes on tobacco, gambling, and cannabis. The inclusion of an entire section devoted to impact investing was also noteworthy.
While the changes move the USCCB closer to Inspire’s approach to biblically responsible investing, there is still room for improvement, noted in the whitepaper in key areas such as abortion, religious discrimination, pornography, traditional marriage, and addictive substances.
Inspire’s newest whitepaper compares the key issues of concern for Catholic investors as outlined in the guidelines with Inspire’s biblical approach to each of the policies.
In all cases, Inspire is either consistent with or goes above and beyond the Bishops’ Investment Guidelines.
Therefore, Catholic investors interested in utilizing Inspire’s suite of ETFs or Inspire’s free investment screening tool – Inspire Insight, can feel confident they are investing in alignment with their faith.
About Inspire Investing
Inspire Investing is a leading provider of biblically responsible, faith-based ESG investments managing over $1.9 billion in assets under management (as of 12/31/2021), and creator of the globally recognized Inspire Impact Score™ which is used by investors around the world to measure the biblical alignment of their investments according to biblically responsible investing (BRI) principles.
Inspire's propriety Inspire Impact Score serves as the foundation of their investment process and is available at www.inspireinsight.com. This free screening tool provides a rules-based resource for faith-based investors looking to find companies that are operating as blessings to their customers, communities, workforce, and the world, and excluding companies that are operating at odds with biblical values.
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