BEST PRACTICE #01
BEST PRACTICE GUIDE
Criterion 01: Faith foundation documentation
Formally recognising faith values as the foundation of investment practice
Why faith foundation documentation matters
Faith foundation documentation explains how an organisation’s faith tradition, theological principles, and teachings are set out within its investment policy and used to guide investment decision-making. It is the point at which beliefs and values are translated into practical investment guidance.
Where faith foundations are not clearly documented, investment policy becomes open to interpretation.
Trustees and advisers may rely on general financial norms rather than faith-specific guidance. Over time this leads to inconsistent application of values and a widening gap between investment practice and organisational mission.
Clear documentation does the opposite: it provides continuity and clarity, helping ensure that investment decisions remain grounded in the organisation’s faith commitments even as leadership, staff, and advisory arrangements change.
This sits at the very foundation of faith-consistent investing. Without clear faith documentation, the other elements of alignment – negative screening, positive screening, stewardship, engagement, and impact – risk becoming disconnected from their moral purpose and defaulting into purely technical investment processes.
What a strong faith foundation delivers in practice
A clearly expressed faith foundation serves the organisation and everyone who advises or manages its assets:
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Mandate clarity. It reduces the risk of misinterpretation and misalignment between an organisation’s expressed values and the strategies actually implemented on its behalf.
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Consistent advice. It helps ensure exclusions, engagement priorities, and trade-offs are applied consistently over time and across portfolios.
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Stronger adviser–client dialogue. Explicit faith foundations enable more constructive conversations about values, priorities, and constraints.
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Faithful implementation. Advisers and managers are far better equipped to serve faith-based clients when theological intent is clearly documented rather than assumed.
What best practice looks like
Strong faith foundation documentation does not require lengthy theological essays. What distinguishes the best policies is clarity, specificity, and relevance — the ability to show, not merely assert, that faith shapes how money is invested. Across every tradition, the strongest documentation consistently contains four building blocks:
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Faith identity: Explicit identification of the faith tradition informing the policy.
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Core principles: A clear statement of the core theological or ethical principles appropriate to that tradition.
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Authoritative grounding: Reference to recognised denominational or authoritative guidance, and to the sacred texts or teachings the principles rest on, where applicable.
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Translation into practice: A clear explanation of how those faith values translate into investment decision-making, rather than remaining abstract.
The strongest documentation moves beyond statements of identity to show how faith commitments shape priorities, boundaries, and responsibilities in practice.
A template you can adopt
The elements above become far easier to apply when set out as a simple template. The framework below walks through each building block in turn. Replace the bracketed prompts with your own tradition’s language — the wording should be authentically yours, not borrowed. Fields 1, 2, 5, and 6 establish the core of a strong foundation; completing fields 3, 4, and 7 as well is what typically lifts a policy to an exemplary standard.
You can download the template as a Word document by clicking the button below.
Faith Foundation Statement – Template
1. Our faith tradition
This investment policy is grounded in the faith and tradition of [ name your denomination or faith tradition ].
2. Our core principles
Our investment practice is shaped by the following core theological and ethical principles:
[ Principle one ],
[ Principle two ],
[ Principle three ].
3. Our sacred texts and teachings
“These principles are rooted in [ cite the specific scriptures, sacred texts, confessions, testimonies, or teachings your tradition draws on ] — for example, [ a specific citation and the value it expresses ].
4. The authoritative guidance we follow
In applying these principles we are guided by [ name the denominational or authoritative guidance you follow – eg, a
bishops’ conference document, a book of discipline, a synod or general assembly resolution, a set of testimonies ].
5. How our faith translates into investment decisions
We translate these principles into practice as follows: the principle of [ name the principle ] leads us to [ the exclusion, priority, or investment criterion it produces ]. (Repeat for each principle so the link between belief and portfolio is explicit.)
6. Our understanding of stewardship
We understand the management of our assets as an act of faithful stewardship, meaning [ state what stewardship means within your tradition and what it obliges of you ].
7. How this foundation was discerned and approved
This foundation was developed through [ describe the prayer, consultation, theological reflection, or discernment process behind it ], and was reviewed and approved by [ governing body ] on [ date ].