The Marketplace Magazine January/February 2023

Challenges on how to integrate faith on investments

Faith Driven Investing. Every investment has an impact: What’s Yours?

By Henry Kaestner, Tim Keller, Finny Kuruvilla, Andy Crouch, Cathie Wood et. al. (Tyndale Momentum, 2023, 240 pgs., $24.99 US)

This fascinating series of essays was commissioned by the Faith Driven Entrepreneur organization.

Faith Driven Investing brings together the perspectives of pastors, venture capitalists, institutional asset managers, technology firm executives, real estate investors, and think tanks.

The essays range from theological — Tim Keller’s reminder that “all well-done work that serves the good of human beings pleases God” — to discussions of holistic investing practices.

Bryce Butler commends the practice of one-pocket investing, working to invest for profit and social good. That approach moves past the two-pocket approach, one for profits and another for charitable giving.

Cathie Wood, who founded the ARK Invest tech ETF company at age 57, writes about how her company name came from praying what God wanted her to do next after a long investment career.

She kept returning to biblical passages about the Old Testament Ark of the Covenant.

MEDA supporters will be particularly interested in the chapter Work locally and globally, by Efosa Ojomo and Richard Okello.

They note that by 2030, there will be more than 1.6 billion potential customers on the African continent, a group larger than the projected combined population of the US and the European Union or China.

While mid-market businesses in the US grow at eight to 12 percent annually, in Africa it is common to see similar firms grow at between 20 and 100 percent per year, they write.

Faith Driven Investing makes a valuable contribution to helping Christian entrepreneurs and investors integrate their beliefs and business practices. - MS