BRI FAQ's What is biblically responsible investing?

Biblically responsible investing is taking 1 Cor 10:31 at face value. Whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God. Inspirer's approach to BRI is threefold:

1. Endorse companies making a positive impact on the world. 2. Engage with companies to create positive Biblical change; and 3. Exclude companies involved in immoral issues.

Do I need to sacrifice performance to invest in clean companies? No, you do not. Good values and good returns are not mutually exclusive. While no strategy can ever guarantee positive investment returns, research from Biola University, Oxford University, Wharton, and others suggests that investment performance has benefited from values-based investment practices, such as BRI. We discuss this topic more here on our blog post-Performance Study on Inspirer’s Biblically Responsible Investing Strategy. That said, the book of Proverbs teaches, “Better is a little with righteousness than greater revenues with injustice” (Prov 16:8 ESV). So, as Christians, if we had to choose between higher returns with immoral investments, or lower returns with God glorifying investments we should, without hesitation, joyfully choose the option that glorifies God no matter what the returns. (Just sayin’)

How do I find out if my current investments are violating my values? We thought you would never ask! Visit inspireinsight.com and type in the ticker symbols of the stocks or funds you own in the search bar. The results will show you if there are any violations in categories important to you. If you don’t like what you see, you can submit your most recent investment account statement here to receive a more in-depth analysis on your portfolio as well as explore some investment alternatives.

Does screening matter? Absolutely, screening matters. If we say that we are against certain issues, like abortion or human trafficking for instance, then we should not be investing in those businesses in order to profit from them. Also, studies have found that implementing screens such as the Inspire Impact Score Methodology has benefited some portfolio returns and lowered portfolio risk. Who doesn’t like that? For more information please read the Performance study of Biblically Responsible Investing. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results.

How is the Inspire Impact Score calculated? The Inspire Impact Score Methodology begins by filtering companies through exclusionary screens and assigns negative points where violations are found. If there are violations found, then negative points are assigned based upon the scope of violations. If there no violations found, then positive screens are applied and positive points assigned. The result is that any company with a score of zero or higher is considered investable from Inspire’s biblically responsible viewpoint, while any company with a score below zero is excluded from Inspire portfolios. Chart of how scores are assigned.

Are there enough companies that pass biblical screens to build a diversified portfolio? Yes, there are. In fact, we maintain Inspire Impact Scores on more than 4,500 companies globally of which 88% pass all biblical screening criteria, with failing scores mostly concentrated among the largest mega-cap companies. You can check the Inspire Impact Score of any company or fund yourself at inspireinsight.com.

Can I invest with Inspire internationally?

We are happy to say yes, you can invest with Inspire Internationally! Here is a very useful site that allows a foreign individual to find a US brokerage platform that supports investors in their country—aka, where you could open an account and invest with Inspire on the NYSE. Click the link below, type the name of a country in the top right and then a list of eligible stock brokers appears below in the right sidebar

My advisor is Christian; aren't they already screening my investments? Probably not. There is a widely held assumption that every Christian advisor or Christian fund company automatically screens for biblical issues. However, many if not most Christian advisors do not invest biblically unless their client specifically asks for it. And many Christian advisors have still never heard of BRI and/or do not have the tools available to them to implement biblical investing. It is always best to make sure to have a conversation with your advisor and let them know these values matter to you.

If you want to see if your current portfolio is screened for biblical values, you can see for yourself at inspireinsight.com.

Does investing biblically mean I have to pay high fees? It used to, but not anymore. You’re welcome. 😉 Does the Give50 campaign mean you give away my profits? No. We only donate funds from our own corporate revenues. All investment funds have management fees, whether low or high, that investors have to pay. What makes Inspire unique is that we donate 50 percent or more of the profit we make from these management fees to Christian ministries. You can learn more about the Give50 campaign on our Impact page