Thank you for the August 2004 cover story, "Keeping The Faith," by Robert Keane. It is good to raise awareness about the value of faith-based investing, or what we call Biblically responsible investing.
My experience is that Christian clients are thankful to know about this issue–an issue most have never considered but immediately come to understand as a vital part of living out their faith. Unfortunately, many Christian financial consultants never make their clients aware that their "regular" mutual funds put clients in a position of indirect ownership in companies that support abortion, pornography, homosexuality, and other issues that run counter to Biblical teaching.
Fortunately, an increasing number of Christian advisors are coming to understand that how/if they discuss this issue with clients is not just a marketing decision, but rather a decision about allowing Christian principles to permeate every aspect of their practices. Many Christians who are prospective clients come to me because they know I am a Christian. If I fail to employ Christian principles at every stage of the financial plan–from goal-setting to implementation–I have given the client less than they should have expected and have lost the opportunity to see the temporal from an eternal perspective.
Dan Hardt, President
National Association of Christian Financial Consultants
Louisville, Kentucky
Defining Value
I just finished your August 2004 article, "The True Meaning of Value," and am writing to offer kudos on this insightful and thought-provoking article. I am relatively new to the financial services business and have been struggling to find a way to differentiate myself. This article gives me a good point from which to start. Thank you.
Christopher Lewis
Legend Group
Rochester, New York
The Real World
Regarding "Is Indexing's Time Over?" in your July issue: Everything Ms. Lisanti predicts may or may not happen, but this will have nothing to do with indexing's time being over. She argues that active management will beat indexing because small-cap stocks will do well. If she is arguing that small-cap stocks will beat the S&P 500 index, then she is simply betting on one asset class over another. This has nothing to do with indexing. Odds are in her favor since the Fama-French model predicts a greater return for small-cap stocks in return for the greater risk assumed.
