The Rise of Faith-Based ETFs with Mike Schnackenberg | FaithFi
May 12, 2026
The Rise of Faith-Based ETFs with Mike Schnackenberg
Faith & Finance with Rob West
What if investing could be about more than performance? What if it could also be about purpose?
For many believers, stewardship does not stop with earning, giving, saving, or spending. It also includes asking whether the companies we invest in reflect the values we profess. And as more Christians think carefully about their portfolios, faith-based investing tools are making that conversation more practical than ever.
Mike Schnackenberg, Head of Distribution at Eventide Asset Management, joins the show today to discuss the rise of faith-based ETFs and how investors can align their portfolios with their convictions while honoring God and serving the common good.
What if investing could be about more than performance? What if it could also be about purpose?
For many believers, stewardship does not stop with earning, giving, saving, or spending. It also includes asking whether the companies we invest in reflect the values we profess. And as more Christians think carefully about their portfolios, faith-based investing tools are making that conversation more practical than ever.
Mike Schnackenberg, Head of Distribution at Eventide Asset Management, joins the show today to discuss the rise of faith-based ETFs and how investors can align their portfolios with their convictions while honoring God and serving the common good.
What Is an ETF?
ETF stands for exchange-traded fund. Simply put, an ETF is an investment vehicle that can hold multiple stocks or bonds under one ticker symbol.
That gives investors a convenient way to diversify. Instead of purchasing shares of dozens—or even hundreds—of individual companies, an investor can gain exposure to many holdings through a single investment.
ETFs also trade on exchanges like stocks, which means they can be bought and sold throughout the trading day. Many also provide transparency, giving investors visibility into the companies or holdings inside the fund.
For years, many people associated ETFs mainly with passive investing—funds that simply track a broad market index. But that has been changing. More active strategies are now being offered through ETFs as well, partly because of the accessibility, transparency, and tax efficiency the structure can provide.
Is Passive Investing Really Neutral?
One of the most important questions for Christian investors is whether passive investing is truly neutral.
At first glance, it may seem that way. If an investor is simply tracking an index, it can feel like they are not making an active ethical choice. But from a biblical stewardship perspective, every investment decision carries moral weight because investing involves ownership.
Even if someone owns only a small percentage of a large company, that investor still has a connection to the company’s products, practices, profits, and impact. If we benefit from a company’s success, then it is worth asking whether that success comes through work that contributes to human flourishing—or work that harms our neighbors.
That is why faith-based investing begins with a deeper question: What kind of impact do I want my investments to have?
Investing Is Ownership
For believers, stewardship is not limited to giving, budgeting, or avoiding debt. It also includes investing.
If God owns everything, then the money we invest is also entrusted to us by Him. That means our portfolios should not be disconnected from our discipleship.
A broad market index may include companies involved in industries or practices many Christians would find troubling—areas connected to addiction, exploitation, the destruction of life, or other harms to human flourishing. Faith-based investing seeks to avoid those problematic areas while also identifying companies whose products and practices serve people well.
The goal is not merely to avoid what is harmful. It is also to pursue what is good.
The Awareness Gap
One of the biggest challenges is that many Christians simply do not know that faith-based investing options are available.
They may assume their only choices are traditional index funds, mutual funds, or ETFs that make no distinction between companies based on values or business practices. But the faith-based investing space has grown, giving investors more opportunities to pursue financial goals while also seeking values alignment.
For many believers, the first step is simply awareness: learning what they currently own and understanding what companies or industries may already be represented in their portfolio.
That discovery process can be eye-opening. Many investors find that familiar funds or indexes include exposure to businesses they would not knowingly support.
What Should Investors Look For?
Those who want their investments to align more closely with their convictions should begin by examining what their current investments contain.
Some screening tools allow investors or advisors to enter a ticker symbol and review exposure to areas many Christians consider problematic, such as alcohol, tobacco, gambling, pornography, and abortion-related businesses. Some faith-based investment firms screen across many additional ethical categories.
This kind of review is not meant to stir up guilt. It is meant to bring clarity.
Once investors understand what they own, they can make more intentional decisions about where their money is invested and which kinds of companies they want to support.
Eventide’s Approach to Faith-Based ETFs
Eventide Asset Management has long focused on values-based investing. Its tagline is “Investing that makes the world rejoice,” a phrase that reflects its desire to identify companies that contribute to human flourishing while avoiding businesses involved in harmful practices.
Eventide has now brought that approach into the ETF space. Its ETF lineup includes both an actively managed high-dividend strategy and several systematic ETFs designed to provide investors with broad market exposure while applying value-based screens.
The aim is to offer investors something similar to the look and feel of traditional market exposure, while avoiding companies involved in practices that conflict with a biblical worldview and leaning toward businesses that create real value for people and communities.
Investing for Human Flourishing
Faith-based investing is not only about what investors avoid. It is also about what they support.
At their best, businesses can serve customers, create meaningful work, solve real problems, develop helpful products, and strengthen communities. Investing can be one way of participating in that good work.
That is why this conversation is about more than portfolio construction. It is about asking whether the resources God has entrusted to us are being used in ways that reflect His purposes.
Christian investors do not have to choose between thoughtful financial stewardship and faithfulness. The goal is to pursue wise investing while also asking how our investments can honor God and love our neighbors.
The potential impact is significant.
A large amount of public equity assets is held by church-attending Christians, yet only a small portion of those assets is currently invested in explicitly faith-aligned ways. If more believers began viewing their investments as part of their stewardship, capital could be directed away from destructive industries and toward companies creating meaningful value in the world.
Now more than ever, Christians have an opportunity to align the resources God has entrusted to them with the values they profess.
Investing is not just about growing wealth. It is about stewardship. It is about ownership. And for the believer, it is one more area of life where faith should shape financial decisions.
To learn more about faith-based investing options from Eventide, visit EventideInvestments.com. You can also explore additional resources at GoodInvestor.com.
Mike Schnackenberg is the Head of Distribution at Eventide Asset Management, LLC. Views expressed in this podcast are intended for information purposes and do not constitute investment advice. Eventide does not provide tax, accounting, or legal advice. Eventide's values-based approach to investing may not produce desired results and could result in underperformance compared with other investments. There is no guarantee that any investment will achieve its objectives, generate positive returns, or avoid losses.
On Today’s Program, Rob Answers Listener Questions:
I have two retirement accounts totaling about $18,000 and need to withdraw the funds. They’re withholding 20% plus fees—around $2,200 per account. Is that normal?
I’m 74 and have a universal life policy with a $750,000 death benefit and about $60,000 in cash value. Premiums are now being drawn from the policy, and the value is declining. Since I’m debt-free and financially stable, would it make more sense to surrender the policy and invest the cash instead?
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