GMR 74: Biblically Responsible Investing

Episode 74
Investing in the Market is investing in companies. How those companies conduct themselves and what they’re involved in matters because as part owner what they do personally reflects on you, whether good or bad. On this episode of GMR, we talk with David Sandhu, a financial planner whose specialty is Biblically Responsible Investing (BRI). Find out why BRI is important and why you don’t have to sacrifice your beliefs to invest responsibly and make a good return on your investments.

SHOW NOTES

BIBLICALLY RESPONSIBLE INVESTING


Biblical Financial Stewardship includes how we manage investments on God’s behalf.

4 Point Approach to BRI

  1. What is the problem?

  2. What is BRI, why does it matter?

  3. Can I have an impact

  4. How to join the BRI movement



1. What is the problem?

  • Many Christians are shocked to discover they are invested in abortion, pornography and other immoral businesses in their 401k, IRA, mutual funds and other investments.

  • Profiting from and supporting immoral and unbiblical practices through our investments.

  • As an investor of a company, you are a part owner of that company.

  • Stocks represent ownership of a company.


David Sandhu’s Story

  • About 5 years ago, owners of Hobby Lobby argued that the mandate in former President Obama's health care reforms forced them to violate deeply held religious principles because they believe some of the contraceptives amount to abortion.  After the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Hobby Lobby, it wasn't long until Forbes did some digging and showed that Hobby Lobby actually held more than $73 million in mutual funds with investments in companies that produce emergency contraceptive pills, intrauterine devices, and drugs commonly used in abortions.

  • This news convicted me and I knew something had to change in my investments. I wanted to honor God through my investments, not oppose Him.

  • I had to ask myself the question.

    • do my investments reinforce my values, or contradict them?

    • Does God want me to be faithful with 10%, or 100%?

    • If God owns it all, does He care what my investments support, and do I care?

2. What is BRI, why does it matter?

Introduction to BRI

  • Growing movement of Christian investors that are aligning their investment dollars and decisions with biblical values to honor God as an act of worship. To be a good steward of the money we have.

  • Ensures that you're not invested in companies that are violating values that believers do not agree with.

    Deuteronomy 23:18 - You shall not bring the wages of a prostitute for this is an abomination. How much of the ill-gotten gain is ok to bring to God as an offering?

  • Negative Screening: Abortion, Porn, Substance abuse, human rights violations etc.

  • Positive Screening: Love thy neighbor philosophy, doing good in the community.

  • BRI is the solution to the problem.

Why does it matter?

  • 1 Corinthians 10:31 - So whether you eat or drink do it all for the glory of God.

  • The Parable of the talents teaches us to be faithful stewards

  • Gives believers a Voice.

  • Matthew 5:13-16 (salt and light) preserving agent of our culture and an illuminating agent to the dark and decaying culture around us.

  • Ephesians 5:11 - Take no part in unfruitful works, instead, expose

BRI gives believers a voice in two ways

  1. Opportunity to increase the resources of good companies that are being good stewards.

  2. Not giving money to companies that are doing bad, the more people that join the BRI movement the louder our voice will be heard.

    • Companies notice when investor dollars move, leveraging their wealth to give voice to their values. (COSTCO)

    • Christian investors do not have to sacrifice performance in order to invest with biblical values.

3. Can I have an impact?

  1. First and foremost that BRI is a matter of the heart, and the Holy Spirit will guide. No need for condemnation, because there is a way to do better and join the BRI movement.

  2. Second, pray about it, this isn't about pressure, this is simply about being good stewards, and like 1 Corinthians 10:31 says, “In whatever you do, whether you eat or drink, do it all for the glory of God.”

Collectively we have a voice. You may think, my small amount of money doesn't make a difference, but imagine investors sitting in a boardroom saying, “we don't want the company to support  X Y Z activities,” and the impact that will have collectively.

4 - How do I invest biblically responsible?

How do I know what's in my portfolio?

  • It begins by an impact analysis, we look at what’s inside your portfolio and the report shows what activities investors are engaged in.

  • The report shows what the companies you own are doing:

  1. What negative companies you're invested in.

  2. The percentage of each offense you're invested in that doesn't align with your values.

  3. The financial data (expenses, performance comparison, hypothetical impact for worthy causes).

BRI is the solution

  • Start working with your adviser to start the discussion.

  • BRI is growing in popularity, more brokerages are offering it on to their platforms, so talk with your adviser about your BRI options.

  • If you don't have an advisor, you send me an email and we can talk more about your options: david@wisewealth.com.


If you're a DIY type investor, we have an online tool you can look up company stocks, mutual funds and ETFs by their ticker symbol at inspireinsight.com, and see a run down of the counts against each biblical value.

We also have an automated solution called brightportfolios. This is a do it yourself BRI robo-advisor that lets you answer some questions build an investor profile and builds a BRI portfolio for you that you can automate your investing, and listeners can visit brightportfolios.com to open an account.


The BRI movement is spreading like wildfire as Christians everywhere are discovering that they can invest for the glory of God and make a Kingdom impact with their investment decisions.

RESOURCES

Online DIY Tool - https://www.inspireinvesting.com/insightpromo/index.html
DIY Robo-advisor - https://brightportfolios.com/biblically-responsible-investing
David Sandhu’s website - www.wisewealthtx.com




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