by Robert Brooks
Why forecasts, fund managers, and faithful living rarely line up neatly Economic prediction sits at the heart of nearly every investment strategy. The idea is simple: if we can know what’s coming, we can get rich. The problem? It rarely works out that way.
Why Wall Street Needs Both Math and Morals In finance, “efficiency” is usually celebrated as though it were the Holy Grail—right up there with low fees, hot coffee, and working Wi-Fi on airplanes. But efficiency is slippery. A market can be informationally efficient (prices reflect all available information) while being
Two Worldviews on Managing Capital: Naturalism vs. Christianity Managing investment capital is an ongoing process whether one acts as a professional adviser or simply an individual steward of resources. The basic components of the investment process can be summarized in a cycle—understanding investor characteristics, selecting instruments, developing strategy, implementing it, and monitoring both the investor and th…
Higher expense ratios lead to higher active risk, even within Biblically Responsible Investor funds. Thanks for reading Christian Worldview and Finance! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.
In capital formation, as in all of life, wisdom begins with fearing the Lord and trusting his Word as our true users’ manual. Proverbs 14:11–12 “The house of the wicked will be destroyed, but the tent of the upright will flourish. There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.”
Higher expense ratios lead to lower performance even within Biblically Responsible Investor funds. When evaluating equity mutual funds and exchange traded funds (ETFs), expense ratios—the annual fees taken out of fund assets—are among the most scrutinized metrics. Biblically Responsible Investor (BRI) funds are no exception. Expressed as a percentage, they encompass all ongoing operational costs, including management, administration, 12b‑1 (marketing…
The wise investor does not merely own capital but is owned by the Lord of all capital. And in that relationship, wisdom becomes the most profitable holding of all. In the modern world, many assume wisdom can be found in the same places we find career skills or technical expertise—in universities, professional networks, best-selling books, or the endless stream of podcasts and online content. These resources often have a “physicalist” flavor: they are grounded in empirical observation, human reasoning, and practica…
The righteous way builds enduring, eternal wealth. There are only two ways to live. This is the clear and consistent teaching of Scripture. Psalm 1 opens the entire Psalter with a powerful contrast: the righteous man, who delights in the law of the Lord, and the wicked, who follow their own way.
Introducing exploring the marketplace, especially investing, considering the twin biblical truths, God’s loving abundance and humans’ sinful depravity. Over the past several years, work on The Way of Capital (new book under development) has grown out of two convictions. First, Scripture offers a uniquely coherent lens for understanding the marketplace—especially when acquiring and managing capital. Like a pair of glasses, a worldview clarifies what otherwise appears blurry; the Bible supplies a compreh…
“You do not know what tomorrow will bring.” That line from the book of James has always felt more like sober balance-sheet advice than Sunday-school poetry. “You do not know what tomorrow will bring.” That line from the book of James has always felt more like sober balance-sheet advice than Sunday-school poetry.
Christian investors are warranted in voting with their wallets as they choose BRI-based funds over other alternatives. “Suppose you were told there was a tiger in the next room: you would know that you were in danger and would probably feel fear. But if you were told ‘There is a ghost in the next room,’ and believed it, you would feel, indeed, what is often called fear, but of a different kind.
Culture—not capital, strategy, or code—determines whether a venture thrives. Strategy can be copied; culture must be cultivated. Decades of interacting with business professionals and internationals—U.S. quants, Liberian refugees, Chinese academics, Persian engineers, artist from Africa—keep proving that business is never worldview-neutral. Every computer application rests on deeper assumptions about reality, purpose, and people.
Finance is never worldview-neutral. Every model, forecast, or trading rule rests on deeper assumptions about what the universe is like and what human beings are for. Based on “From Jesus to Wall Street: Harnessing the Christian Worldview for Wiser Investments” (Op-Ed 24-O5) Freely available on my website’s Opinion Editorials page.
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