Faith-based investing is having a moment

Jennifer Sor

Sun, Mar 23, 2025, 9:15 AM 5 min read

• Religious investment funds are having a moment.

• Assets in faith-based funds hit $100 billion for the first time last year.

• Their rise has come alongside Trump's presidency and growing religious sentiment in the US.

A corner of the exchange-traded and mutual fund market has seen a quiet surge in recent years, which investing pros say has come alongside the rise of Donald Trump and a reinvigoration of religious sentiment during his two terms as president.

Faith-based investments are a relatively small part of the ETF world, but investors — typically of Christian or Catholic faith — piled into these vehicles in the last year, many of which promise to keep money out of anything with links to things like abortion, tobacco, or gambling.

The value of faith-based investments swelled to at least $130 billion last year, but the total size of the market is likely larger than that, according to a study from the faith-based investment advisory Brightlight.

According to Brightlight's survey, assets managed by faith-based funds hit $100 billion for the first time last year, a 14% jump in the 15 months leading up to June 2024.

Brightlight has also seen more people seek its investment advisory services in the last year. Demand for the firm's screening services, which filter stocks for faith-based values, has doubled since 2023, the firm told BI.

Inspire, which claims to be the world's largest faith-based ETF provider, has also seen a surge of interest in its faith-based investment products.

The company's investing arm hit $3 billion in assets under management last year, with $1 billion of that coming in the 18 months leading up to September, it said in a statement.

Inspire CEO Robert Netzly said he sees rising religious fervor behind the surge in interest in faith-based investing.

"There's opening the eyes of His people to this huge problem, that we've been putting His money into things that break His heart. Things like human trafficking and abortion, drug manufacturing and all sorts of things. And we don't have to do that anymore," he said.

Guidestone, another faith-based investment firm, also said it's seeing greater demand for its investment products. The firm has $22.5 billion in assets under management, up around 46% over the last three years, according to statements and information on its website.

There are funds tailored to the values of many religions, but Christians, Catholics, and evangelicals make up the bulk of the investors working with Inspire and Brightlight, Netzly and Brightlight head of global advisory, Tim Macready, told BI.