New Stock Market Fund Created Especially for Catholic Investors

The Global X SandP 500 Catholic Values Index ETF launched last week for investors looking to invest without compromising their religious values.

The CATH tracks an index that screens out companies considered “offensive” or “violating” to traditional Catholic values. In fact, the ETF only includes shares of companies whose practices adhere to the Socially Responsible Investment Guidelines of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Director of research at Global X Funds, Jay Jacobs, said about the new ETF, “This is our first fund in the values category, but we’ve been looking closely at the (socially responsible investing) space to provide some different ways to invest in religious and social values.”

Investing based on faith is actually not a new concept. There are at least 20 faith-based mutual funds related to religions, including Protestantism, Islam, Judaism, and now Catholicism. These funds exclude companies that profit off of “sinful” activities, such as alcohol and gambling.

Todd Rosenbluth, the director of mutual fund and ETF research at SandP Captial IQ, explained that CATH is following a trend set by younger generations who are looking to invest in ways that align with their core beliefs.

“There’s a new generation of investors that are looking for things that fit in better with who they are as a person, and this is a product that fits very well into that approach,” Rosenbluth said.

While stock trading was once the sole domain of Wall Street, it has become easily available and more affordable to a broader population over the past 20 years thanks to online brokerages. People of diverse demographics all over the globe can now invest in companies they feel are worth their time and money.