Is it just me, or is this less-than-exquisite timing for this particular roll-out?
Europe’s first Christian equity index was launched on Monday in response to increasing demand by investors for so-called ethical stocks in the wake of the financial crisis.
The Stoxx Europe Christian Index comprises 533 European companies that only derive revenues from sources approved “according to the values and principles of the Christian religion”.
BP, HSBC, Nestlé, Vodafone, Royal Dutch Shell and GlaxoSmithKline are among the companies in the index. Only groups that do not make money from pornography, weapons, tobacco, birth control and gambling are allowed to be listed.
A committee, which Stoxx says includes representatives of the Vatican, screens shares, which are drawn from the Stoxx Europe 600 Index (emphasis added).
Umm...... to state the obvious, I'm not sure this is the right moment for the Catholic Church to present itself as the arbiter of all things ethical. But hey, I'm a nonbeliever.
That said, I do wonder if there's an index fund that could be created that would be the inverse of this fund -- one that did nothing but profit from the seven deadly sins.
Readers already doomed to eternal damnation in hell with a mischevious streak are encouraged to suggest the appropriate companies to put into that fund in the comments.
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