Social and Religious Values

Personal values are the basis of sustainable investing. Such values can differ in focus and conviction. Many people derive their values from their strong beliefs stemming from religion, political association, and patriotism. They can target topics like social values, civil rights, and climate change. Various re-ligions, including Catholicism, Judaism, Islam, and Mormonism, have different values and thus offer diverse investment guidance. Similarly, different political ideologies lead to other invest-ment objectives. This chapter helps sustainable investors reflect on their own beliefs, under-stand the conflicts between value-based systems, and align their investment strategy with their beliefs. Many stock indices, mutual funds, and ETFs follow various values-based strategies to help investors satisfy their sustainability criteria.