The Good Book In An ETF

The environmental, social and governance sub-sector of the fund space is seen as a growth frontier for exchange-traded funds and ETF issuers are responding to that theme. On Tuesday, California-based Inspire Investing bolstered its lineup of Christian values ETFs with the debut of the Inspire 100 ETF BIBL.

BIBL tracks the cap-weighted Inspire 100 Index, which features exposure to U.S. companies with market values of above $20 billion. The index's 100 member firms meet biblically responsible investing standards.

“We select portfolio companies using the Inspire Impact Score methodology, our proprietary process that identifies companies doing amazing things like working to cure cancer, providing clean water solutions and otherwise being a blessing to their communities, customers, workforce and the world, while at the same time avoiding investments in companies involved in immoral activities like abortion, pornography and human trafficking,” according to Inspire Investing.

What's Inside

BIBL features exposure to 10 of the 11 sectors found in the S&P 500 with telecommunications being the exception. The new ETF's largest sector allocation is to industrials, followed by health care and consumer discretionary. 

BIBL has smaller allocations to sectors such as consumer staples, energy, materials, technology and utilities.

Inspire donates 50 percent or more of its corporate profits per year to causes including Bible, distribution, clean water initiatives, Syrian refugees and other causes.

A Growing Lineup

BIBL is the fourth ETF in the Inspire suite. Earlier this year, the issuer launched the Global Hope Large Cap ETF BLES and the Inspire Small/Mid Cap Impact ETF ISMD. The firm also has a fixed income product, the Inspire Corporate Bond Impact ETF IBD.

The Inspire Global Hope Large Cap ETF follows the equal-weight Inspire Global Hope Large Cap Equal Weight Index, which defines large-cap as companies with market values of $10 billion and up. The index holds 400 stocks. BLES allocates half its weight to U.S. stocks, 40 percent to international developed markets and 10 percent to emerging markets.

BLES, IBD and ISMD now have over $100 million in combined assets under management.

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