Fishes: Catholic Investing
Ethical ETFs based on Catholic values. For investors in Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
Coming soon. Join the waitlist now.
Mission
Fishes Capital is being built for Christians who do not want to separate their money from their values.
Most ETFs and funds include companies that contradict fundamental Catholic values: weapons manufacturing, abortion, pornography, gambling. Until now, there was no simple, low cost option to avoid this.
Fishes Capital changes that. We are planning a simple, transparent ETF portfolio grounded in Catholic Social Teaching and consistently filtered according to the exclusion criteria of Mensuram Bonam (2022). Our planned portfolio centers on the Franklin MSCI World Catholic Principles UCITS ETF, an exchange traded fund explicitly constructed according to Catholic principles. Simple, transparent, and low cost.
Screening
Hard Exclusions
Companies are automatically excluded if they operate in any of the 24 categories defined by Mensuram Bonam. Mensuram Bonam is a guide for responsible investing published by the Catholic Church in 2022, issued by the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. Excluded sectors include, among others, abortion, embryonic stem cell research, contraceptives, weapons, pornography, tobacco, gambling, and animal testing.
Positive Criteria
Beyond exclusions, we favor companies that align with the seven principles of Catholic Social Teaching: life and dignity of the human person, the call to family and community, subsidiarity, solidarity, care for God's creation, options for the poor and vulnerable, and the dignity of workers.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Catholic investing mean?
Catholic investing means allocating capital only to companies compatible with the principles of Catholic Social Teaching. In practice, this means companies operating in ethically problematic areas are consistently excluded.
What is an ETF and why does Fishes use ETFs?
An ETF (Exchange Traded Fund) is a fund traded on the stock exchange that invests in many different companies at once. Instead of picking individual stocks, an ETF gives you a broadly diversified portfolio in a single investment.
ETFs are generally more cost effective than actively managed funds, since they do not require expensive stock picking by fund managers. This matters to us because it allows us to make Catholic investing accessible and affordable, even for investors with smaller amounts to invest.
What is Mensuram Bonam?
Mensuram Bonam is a guide for Catholic investors published by the Vatican in 2022. It defines 24 categories of business activity that are incompatible with the Catholic faith, and forms the basis of our exclusion criteria.
How is Fishes Capital different from ESG funds?
ESG funds take environmental, social, and governance factors into account, but they do not exclude companies based on religious or ethical values. A company can receive a high ESG score while still being active in areas such as abortion, contraceptives, pornography, or weapons manufacturing.
In addition, ESG criteria are not consistently defined. Each provider interprets them differently, leading to significant differences between funds that appear similar on the surface. This phenomenon is often referred to as ESG washing.
Fishes Capital instead relies on a clear, publicly available framework: Mensuram Bonam. The 24 exclusion categories are fixed, transparent, and defined independently of commercial interests.
Who is Fishes Capital for?
Fishes Capital is designed for Christians and anyone who wants to invest their capital according to Catholic values. Initially for investors in Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
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