Financial professionals focus on aligning investment with Catholic social teaching at summit

More than 100 financial professionals and clergy from various faiths gathered in New York City Sept. 16-17 to attend the second annual Catholic Faith Investor Summit organized around the theme “Empowering Catholic Leaders to Align Their Investments with Their Faith and Create Impact.”

Catholic business leaders “can’t just check a box” when it comes to faith, Pierre LeCocq told attendees on Sept. 17 after the event’s opening Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. “You’re in charge of a community of persons. Every decision you make has to be done with that in mind. You’re not here to check a box … you’re here to love.”

In his remarks, LeCocq, past president of UNIAPAC , the International Christian Union of Business Executives, along with other conference speakers, often cited Mensuram Bonam : Faith-Based Measures for Catholic Investors — A Starting Point and Call to Action , a 2022 document from the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences.

While not a binding magisterial text, the document offers faith-based guidelines for finance and investment drawn from Catholic social teaching.

Conference founder and chairman, Roger Aguinaldo, a Wall Street veteran, said in his opening address…