About the Author
Scott Fehrenbacher is founder and former president of American Values Investing, which researches the cultural integrity of America?s public companies. He is also president and CEO of Crosswalk.com. He currently lives with his family in Chantilly, Virginia.
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Buy Put Your Money Where Your Morals Are : A Guide to Values-Based Investing at Amazon
If you are a conservative Christian looking to avoid companies that support Planned Parenthood and give health insurance to the domestic partners of employees, this is the book for you. If you are non-Christian, or like me a liberal Christian, this is a book that should be avoided.
The book is aimed only at Christians with repeated Biblical passages and quotes from Christian regions figures. The book defines Christian values by only 4 things: no supporting abortion, pornography, violent movies and video games or acceptance of homosexuality. For example, the book states that American Express should be avoided because it provides benefits to homosexual partners of employees and has a company diversity program that advocates tolerance. JP Morgan should be avoided because they have donated money to Planned Parenthood.
Apparently the author thinks that “Christians” should not concern themselves with such issues as if companies provide living wages, if they pollute the environment or if they support repressive regimes. As a Christian I find the book extremely offensive in its narrow-minded, intolerant definition of “Christian values”. If you want to use your investments to make a difference, get a book about socially responsible investing, green investing or spiritual investing. Following the advice of this book only perpetuates intolerance and Pharisee-like self-righteousness.
This is a great book. As in investment advisor my clients have often asked me whether or not their investments agreed with their beliefs. In the past I had to tell them that there was no way to tell. Scott has, in this book, given me the tools to answer their questions. He has helped to better invest my client’s money where their morals are. He writes with a lot of experience and concern about where money is invested without being extremist or eccentric. He writes in a way that is down to earth that anyone can understand. I recommend that anyone who has concerns about where their money is being invested read this book. I will use it as a reference for years to come.
Like a company that excells in its own segment of a niche market, so too does Fehrebacher’s first book. Written after many years in various financial markets, the author saw a glut of activity and education in the area of Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) but little which dealt with more conservative concerns, vis a vis abortion, pornography, alcohol & tobacco, and gambling. “Put Your Money Where Your Morals Are” was his solution.
While it caters to the above mentioned issues, the book does discuss what is available from the other side, as well as how they fall short of what they proclaim, particularly for a large part of their target audience. Fehrenbacher is unapologetic of the stands he takes, stands he believes are important and timely for conservative Christians. Ironically enough, he also challenges several (erroneous) beliefs that right-leaning Believers often have: the effectiveness of boycotts and the existence of virtuous companies, among others.
All in all, the book is clearly written, well-researched and documented, and full of useful information for those wanting to know more about screening their investments to match their values.
On a side note, I gave it four stars as the information regarding the holdings for various funds is now almost six years old and likely outdated. Though this is an issue of print media, it still unfortunately applies to this book. Otherwise, it would have received 5.