Category Archives: stewardship

Stewardship and Discipleship

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his Own AlreadyWhen we think of stewardship, we think of taking care of something. Stewardship could be defined as: where the concept of faith, works and economics intersect.

In the book Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis wrote:

Every faculty you have, your power of thinking or of moving your limbs from moment to moment, is given you by God. If you devoted every moment of your whole life exclusively to His service, you could not give Him anything that was not in a sense His own already.

So what does stewardship look like in our modern daily life? We often refer to Deuteronomy 8:17-18 where we are reminded not to say, “It is my own power and the strength of my own hand that has got me this wealth…” but “the Lord, your God, for he is the one who gives you the power to get wealth…”

We find our strength in Colossians 3:23-24:

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

On our journey to be good stewards of our opportunities, we also strive to be good disciples by reminding ourselves that all that we do, we do for Him and that all we achieve with our clients’ investment choices are, in a sense, His own already.

Searching For A Moral Compass

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As portfolio managers, we are tasked to look out for our customers—to offer higher returns, lower risk, and efficient tax avoidance while we grow their accounts and provide income in retirement. As stewards of our customer’s portfolios, we strive to the do the right thing in terms of selecting investment products that build up society, do good, and follow Christian principles.

There is often confusion about the difference between Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) and Morally Responsible Investing (MRI). We’ll try to make it simple.

Initially, SRI was used to describe investing in companies that did not profit from “bad” things like tobacco, alcohol, gambling, and firearms. The perception was that these companies promoted sickness, mental and physical abuse, failed relationships, bad habits, and even death. The term focused on which companies one would avoid, not what to invest in, but that has changed. Now SRI seeks out companies that do good—such as alternative energy/clean technologies, community organizations that provide needed services to the poor and disadvantaged, and others that improve the quality of life and reduce reliance on welfare. The focus is on society, not necessarily moral or ethical good as defined by Christian conscience.

moral compassMRI is a subset of SRI but is different because it screens out companies engaged in abortion, embryonic stem cell research, and pornography. It’s pro-life and pro-family. It’s a pillar of the Stewardship Foundation. MRI appeals to investors who want to buy into specific funds that match their moral compass.

As SRI investing became more popular (over $40 trillion in 2016), the term Impact Investing found its way onto the investment stage. The term refers to investing in companies that do the right thing. It actively targets firms, funds, or projects that provide a measurable benefit to society as a whole. Not limited to stocks, mutual funds, or ETFs, it includes private equity, venture capital, and debt investment programs. Investors in this arena are actively participating by putting their money where their mouth is.

Remember that the Stewardship Foundation’s endgame is financial growth for our clients. Whether you are saving for retirement or using your wealth to actively make the world a better place, the road we help you choose is paved with a Christian moral compass.

Stewardship vs Fiduciary

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Where money and investments are concerned, a fiduciary is a person or organization that owes you good faith and trust and who promises to act in your best interest. The Stewardship Foundation has fiduciary responsibility to our clients. But we boldly do more—we are financial stewards.

Our first priority is to apply our passion and discipline to protect your long-term interests, not merely to demonstrate that we act in your best interest. Our work has a higher sense of purpose.

As financial stewards, we are committed to being a point of inspiration for moral, ethical and prudent decision-making. An investment fiduciary can ignore morality and ethics, and still serve as a fiduciary.

brainA financial steward must be able to judge wisely and objectively, while a fiduciary needs only to confirm to a uniform fiduciary standard. We believe that there’s a wide gap between being qualified to guide a client toward good decisions, and being competent to stand up for and speak out about unethical or illegal behavior.

Financial stewardship is a voluntary standard that is not subject to legal or regulatory oversight. Unlike a fiduciary, we don’t have to wait for regulators to define the standard of care for a financial steward.

The concept of fiduciary responsibility is processed in the neo-cortex portion of the brain involved in sensory perception, cognition, motor commands, reasoning and language. Stewards operate there too, but prioritize their thinking in the emotions of love, passion, trust and security, the limbic portion of the brain.

Our clients tend not to define their wealth in terms of cash, securities, real estate, business, cars or jewelry. While they may possess these things, they are not what makes their lives truly satisfying or happy. Victor Frankl, psychiatrist, Holocaust survivor and author of Man’s Search for Meaning presents a theory that our primary drive in life is not toward pleasure and power, but toward the discovery and pursuit of what we personally find meaningful. As good stewards, we help our clients identify the personal aspect of their wealth and to help them make a difference within the institutions and causes they care about.