FAITH IN THE COMMON GOOD
PARIS, 16-17 APRIL 2026
FAITH IN THE COMMON GOOD
THE INTERNATIONAL FAITH-CONSISTENT INVESTING FORUM
Faith groups representing billions of dollars in investments convened in Paris in April at the international faith-consistent investing forum, Faith in the Common Good, to discuss how they can collaborate to use their combined investment power to achieve greater impact. From this has emerged a multi-faith network for faith-based investors, a Centre of Excellence on FCI and plans to work together on coordinated engagement and joint initiatives.
HUGELY INSPIRING FAITH IN THE COMMON GOOD FORUM IN PARIS
We had an amazing Faith in the Common Good forum in Paris. Representatives of 33 faith traditions and networks from four major faiths which collectively managing at least £200 billion in assets under management, met on April 16-17, to discuss how they can collaborate to increase their impact in the markets and address global systemic challenges.
It was organised by FaithInvest and the Collège des Bernardins whose President is Jean-Baptiste de Franssu (who is also President of IOR, known as Vatican Bank). During the event, FaithInvest also launched its landmark Good Intentions 2026 study, which examined 275 publicly available faith-based investment policies – see below for more information.
The key takeaways from the event are:
-
The need to work towards a statement from senior faith leaders on faith-consistent investing, the financial markets and common shared values.
-
A Centre of Excellence on interreligious financial dialogue and cooperation, to be created by FaithInvest; for example, gathering best practice case studies for each of the ten criteria in the Good Intentions 2026 assessment framework*, and education. This includes the creation of a new multi-faith network to enable deeper coordination among faith groups on FCI, regular peer-learning and exchange, and to spotlight the excellent work already taking place.
-
A call for practical ideas to help grow the FCI movement, for example, training, fund opportunities, an impact benchmark, coordinated engagement and more.
A STRONG DESIRE FOR DEEPER COOPERATION
There was unanimous agreement among participants that deeper cooperation among faith groups was needed to scale their impact, and real interest in developing shared investment approaches and vehicles, and a sense of urgency about the need to get going.
But they also felt more needed to be done to build the ecosystem for faith-consistent investing (FCI) to support more faith groups to implement FCI. Jean-Baptiste de Franssu said the absence of a supportive ecosystem was a significant gap. "I also happen to chair what we call the Vatican Bank in the Vatican. When we invest as a Catholic investor, one of the things that we miss the most is the absence of an ecosystem," he said.
"There is no Catholic financial ecosystem. In fact, there is no Christian financial ecosystem," he said. "And what struck me in the room was to hear our brother Muslims, and also of brothers from the Jewish tradition, telling us that they feel a little bit the same. So this notion of creating an ecosystem for faith investment is extremely important to allow faiths to align their investment decisions to the faith that they proclaim."
FaithInvest Executive Chair Dave Zellner agreed, pointing out that one of the key findings from our Good Intentions 2026 study was that it was hard for faith-based organisations, particularly smaller groups, to implement FCI without access to support from larger institutions or networks with specialised investment expertise.
THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO CONTRIBUTED
A sincere thank you to to everyone who took part in the Forum and contributed ideas and comments. The discussion was very lively, engaging and inspiring! And if you were not there but are interested in joining this effort going forward, please do get in touch. We'd love to have you on board!
A special thank you to our sponsors – CCLA as our Launch Patron, and Launch Sponsors Amundi Investment Solutions, Federated Hermes Limited, and Anthos Fund and Asset Management in partnership with Ascension Investment Management – for making the event possible, and for sharing their expertise and experience during the Forum. Scroll down to find our more about partners and or click here to find out why they were motivated to support this event.
GUIDED BY BELIEF BUT NOT YET BY PRACTICE
Landmark new study exposes gaps in faith-consistent investing
FaithInvest has been taking the temperature of the state of faith-consistent investing for several years by assessing real faith-based investment policies. At the Faith in the Common Good Forum, we unveiled our biggest and most comprehensive data-driven assessment of how faith values are embedded in investment decision-making to date.
The study, entitled Good Intentions 2026, evaluates 275 publicly available investment policies and guidelines using our Level One FCI Assessment Framework, which looks at how organisations articulate faith alignment across ten core areas of investment policy – from foundational beliefs and screening approaches, through to governance, portfolio construction, and ongoing review.
The findings reveal an evolving sector: while commitment to faith-consistent investing is growing, most organisations have yet to fully integrate their values into how capital is allocated, managed, and monitored.
We will hold an online global launch on Wednesday May 6 when study authors Catherine Devitt and Dave Zellner will discuss their findings. Register below and in the meantime, fill in the form to access the full 104-page report.
'Addressing the systemic risks that threaten our environmental and economic future requires capital deployed at a scale that no single institution can achieve alone. Faith organisations collectively hold trillions in assets and share fundamental values that transcend denominational boundaries.'
– Dave Zellner, FaithInvest Executive Chair
OUR PARTNERS FOR FAITH IN THE COMMON GOOD
We are very grateful to our partners whose generous support made the Forum possible, and who also contributed to our discussions in Paris. Our Launch Patron was CCLA Investment Management Limited, a pioneer in ethical investment and stewardship since 1987, and our Launch Sponsors were Amundi Asset Management, Anthos Fund & Asset Management, Ascension Investment Management and Federated Hermes Limited.
LAUNCH PATRON
CCLA was born through the launch of the Church of England Investment Fund in 1958, which allowed church organisations to pool their funds for greater efficiency and service. Local authorities and the Charity Commission followed suit.
Alongside managing money for local authorities and church organisations, CCLA looks after investments of more charities than any other fund manager in the UK, with a total of £14.9 billion of assets under management (as at 31 January 2026).
Having fine-tuned its skills in ethically managing money for the Church of England, and with evidence of demand from Catholic charities, CCLA launched its Catholic Investment Fund in 2021. As of 31 December, 2025, the fund’s assets under management totalled over £210 million. Today, CCLA manages money for every Christian denomination.
True to its origins, CCLA manages the CBF Church of England Funds, one of the Church of England’s three National Investing Bodies (NIBs) and serves as the secretariat for the Church Investors Group.
In 2024, together with partners, CCLA hosted the Mensuram Bonam Conference, bringing together churches, cathedrals, charities and faith investors with the finance sector to advance faith consistent investing.
As an investment manager, CCLA’s aim is to meet its clients’ financial objectives in a way that aligns with their values and furthers their mission. At the same time, CCLA believes investors have a responsibility to drive positive change and that when we work together, we can be a stronger force for good to build a better world.
LAUNCH SPONSORS
Europe's largest asset manager, founded in 2010 and headquartered in Paris, Amundi manages more than €2.4tn in assets and serves 100 million clients worldwide. It provides a broad range of investment capabilities – from active and passive funds to multi‑asset, real assets and tailored institutional solutions – with a strong emphasis on responsible investing and global distribution across institutional, corporate and retail clients.
Established almost 100 years ago, Anthos Fund & Asset Management provides comprehensive values‑based asset management and investment advisory services to like‑minded clients. Rooted in the values of sustainability, human dignity and good corporate citizenship. Invests across asset classes with the aim of generating long‑term financial value alongside positive impact for society and the environment.
A US-based, mission-driven, SEC-registered investment adviser, headquartered in St Louis, Missouri, that primarily serves faith-based organisations seeking institutional strength and values alignment. It brings scale, stability, and over a decade of experience to faith-aligned investing, and is committed to empowering faith-based organisations by thoughtfully managing their capital in harmony with Catholic teachings and ethical values.
A global leader in active, responsible investment since 1955, managing US$902.6bn in assets under management for clients around the world. Guided by the conviction that responsible investing is the best way to create long-term wealth, it offers investment capabilities in public and private markets, with a focus on responsible investing. A leading voice in stewardship, it advises on more than $2.3tn in assets to deliver corporate engagement and proxy voting.
FORUM INFORMATION FOR PARTICIPANTS
Here are some of the pre-forum information documents and briefing papers.
BRIEFING PAPERS & RESOURCES
These briefing papers and resources on faith-consistent investing were provided for our discussions in Paris.
