First Christian ETFs Launched to Appeal to Religious-Minded Investors
December 15 2009 - 10:35AM
PR Newswire (US)
OKLAHOMA CITY, Dec. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- FaithShares Trust is pleased
to announce today two additional exchange-traded funds (ETFs), to
join the recently launched FaithShares Catholic Values Fund (FCV),
FaithShares Christian Values Fund (FOC) and FaithShares Methodist
Values Fund (FMV), thus completing the initial family of funds. The
securities held in these funds, FaithShares Baptist Values Fund
(FZB) and FaithShares Lutheran Values Fund (FKL) are similarly
tailored to both denomination's teachings and recommendations for
investing. FaithShares Advisors, LLC worked with the FTSE Group,
the leading global index provider, and KLD Research &
Analytics, a leading provider of environmental, social and
governance (ESG) research and indexes, to create a series of custom
indexes on which the funds are based. "We created these funds to
meet the needs of investors who want to participate in the
potential of the stock market, yet be good stewards of their
money," said Thompson S. Phillips Jr., President of FaithShares.
"As an ETF, each of our funds will include 100 stocks of large,
well-known companies but specifically exclude those considered to
be 'objectionable industries' by a specific denomination. Our funds
are the first Christian ETFs in the market." The FaithShares Funds
allow individuals and groups to invest in accordance with the
tenets of their faith in one security, while still getting exposure
to the broad market. The portfolios will be screened to exclude
companies that benefit from gambling, alcohol, tobacco,
pornography, weaponry and other activities that are included in
each denomination's published criteria. "We did a great deal of
research on the covenants of the various denominations in designing
these funds," said Garrett Stevens, CEO and portfolio manager. "The
Christian Values Fund is the most conservative and we feel it
answers the needs of non-denominational church members and other
denominations not specifically represented by our other ETFs."
Annually, FaithShares Advisors, the management company of
FaithShares, will give a minimum of ten percent of its net income
to a ministry associated with the respective denominations. The
funds will be rebalanced annually and offer complete transparency
about their holdings. ETFs offer an inexpensive way to invest in
the market. From 2000 to 2006, assets in other faith-based
investments have grown seven-fold underscoring the public's
interest in investing according to their beliefs. Investors can
purchase the funds through their investment advisor or discount
broker. About FaithShares Advisors Mr. Phillips and Mr. Stevens
together bring over 40 years of investment experience to this
endeavor. Mr. Phillips also owns a broker-dealer, T.S. Phillips
Investments, Inc., which is comprised of 17 investment consultants
and oversees approximately $1 billion in client assets, as well as
an RIA, Phillips Capital Advisors. Mr. Phillips and Mr. Stevens
have worked closely together for 10 years and in that time have
experienced firsthand the frustrations encountered by Christian
organizations as they attempt to balance their desire for long-term
investment growth with their desire to avoid objectionable
industries. They currently provide investment performance analysis
services for over $3 billion in investor assets. The daily
operations of FaithShares will be conducted primarily by Mr.
Stevens, while Mr. Phillips will take on the role of corporate
spokesperson. About FTSE Group FTSE Group ("FTSE") is a
world-leader in the creation and management of indexes. With
offices in Boston, Beijing, London, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Madrid,
New York, Paris, San Francisco, Sydney, Shanghai and Tokyo, FTSE
works with investors in 77 countries globally. It calculates and
manages a comprehensive range of equity, fixed income, real estate
and investment strategy indices, on both a standard and custom
basis. The company has collaborative arrangements with a number of
stock exchanges, trade bodies and asset class specialists around
the world. FTSE indexes are used extensively by investors
world-wide for investment analysis, performance measurement, asset
allocation and portfolio hedging and for creating a wide range of
index tracking funds. About KLD Indexes KLD Indexes is a business
unit of KLD Research & Analytics, Inc., a wholly-owned
subsidiary of RiskMetrics Group, Inc. KLD is a leading provider of
environmental, social and governance (ESG) research for
institutional investors, headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.
KLD Indexes develops and licenses benchmark, strategy and custom
indexes that investment managers use to integrate ESG criteria into
their investment decisions. KLD Indexes are designed to be
transparent, representative and investable. Products based on KLD
Indexes include Mutual Funds, ETFs, Separately Managed Accounts,
Unit Investment Trusts, Variable Annuities, and Structured
Products. For more information, go to http://www.kld.com/indexes.
Carefully consider the Funds' investment objectives, risk factors,
charges, and expenses before investing. This and additional
information can be found in the Funds' prospectus, which may be
obtained by calling 1-877-FAITH55 (1.877.324.8455), or by visiting
http://www.faithshares.com/. Read the prospectus carefully before
investing. This information is not an offer to sell or a
solicitation of an offer to buy shares of any Fund to any person in
any jurisdiction in which an offer, solicitation, purchase or sale
would be unlawful under the securities laws of such jurisdiction.
Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal.
In addition to the normal risks associated with investing, narrowly
focused investments typically exhibit higher volatility. Shares are
bought and sold at market price (not NAV) and are not individually
redeemed from the Fund. Brokerage commissions will reduce returns.
FaithShares Advisors, LLC serves as an advisor to FaithShares
Trust. The Funds are distributed by SEI Investments Distribution
Co., which is not affiliated with FaithShares Advisors, LLC.
DATASOURCE: FaithShares Advisors CONTACT: Hibre Teklemariam of
SunStar for FaithShares Advisors, +1-703-894-1057, ; or Thompson S.
Phillips, Jr., President, or J. Garrett Stevens, Chief Executive
Officer, , both of FaithShares Advisors, +1-405-778-8377 Web Site:
http://www.faithshares.com/
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