Interview: The Man Who Dared to Imagine If God Were an Investor

For most of us, the phrase "Put your money where your mouth is" amounts to little more than an empty saying. But not to Robin John, a middle-aged man who had made a peculiar pivot in the early part of his career: instead of joining the clergy, he would go on to found an investment firm competing on Wall Street.

In recounting the difficult early years when Eventide Asset Management was still floundering, Mr. John tells me that his motivation was not chasing riches but to make the world "rejoice."

At first blush, this goal sounds better suited for a nonprofit institution or missionary group. Joy, after all, is not typically associated with the world of finance.

But the more I listened, the more sensible his vision became. Like all good entrepreneurs, Eventide solved a problem he and his co-founder, Finny Kuruvilla, had themselves faced. Devout and financially savvy, the two young Christians had wanted to make it possible for people of faith to invest with their conscience.

The moral dimension of money was a recurring theme during our conversation. Unless kept underneath a mattress, most people's savings are released into the broader economy, including as investments into companies. Yet most of us rarely consider what these companies actually do. This is where the two faithful entrepreneurs saw an opportunity.

In the same way that a person might reject a lucrative opportunity to work for a company that trades in cigarettes or X-rated content, he should treat his savings with similar discernment. People of conscience, therefore, should want to make sure more of their money flows to shares in companies that are a net positive to society while avoiding the morally compromised ones.

To illustrate an example of the latter, Mr. John likes to reference an ongoing tragedy unfolding on the other side of the world.

In Indonesia, four-in-ten boys aged between 13 and 15 use cigarettes, the collateral damage of an industry that blankets the country in advertising that appeals to minors. By owning staple index funds such as the S&P 500 via college savings accounts or retirement plans, ordinary people have become unwitting beneficiaries of Big Tobacco's success. (The Connecticut-headquartered Philip Morris International is the largest cigarette company in Indonesia.)

However, Eventide's focus on values-based investing should not be confused with the more mainstream flavor of impact investing that factors in environmental and social (ESG) concerns.

In the last decade-or-so, financial behemoths such as Goldman Sachs and BlackRock put progressive-leaning causes front and center of their messaging. But the ethical awakening has proven short-lived. According to an analysis by Bloomberg earlier this year, mentions of climate- and ESG-terms on S&P 500 earnings calls are down by three-quarters versus three years prior.

The decline of ESG appears to have had little effect on Eventide. Just as Christiantity has experienced ebbs and flows in its two-thousand-year history, I have little doubt that Mr. John will remain faithful to his original mission.

Publisher's note: The interview has been lightly edited for clarity.

You have mentioned that you considered ministry before starting Eventide. Please say more.

I grew up in a church where “man of God” referred mainly to pastors. I longed to know my calling and assumed it couldn’t be in the secular workplace. While working at a custody bank, I saw management mistreating kitchen staff and housekeepers. I left that job, took another and was fired within two months.

I asked my friend Finny to pray with me weekly about how to honor God through our work. He himself was already avoiding investments in tobacco, pornography and abortion. We began fasting and studying Scriptures like Proverbs 1, which warns against ill‑gotten gain, and asked God to show us what good investing looks like. A friend challenged us not to focus only on what we avoid but also on where we allocate capital. That prompted us to develop our “avoid, embrace, engage” framework: invest in companies whose products and practices benefit customers, employees, supply chains, communities, the environment and society; avoid those harming any of those stakeholders. We believe God led us to find purpose in investing.

Where did you grow up, and what was it like immigrating to the United States?

I was born in a small village in Kerala, India. My grandfather was a pastor and my grandmother was deeply prayerful. We lived in a simple home without running water; we slept on mats, and it wasn’t unusual for the power to go out at night.

When I was eight we moved to Boston. My father’s older brother, a pastor at Tremont Temple Baptist Church, had petitioned for our visas. My brother and I were among the only non‑Italian or Irish kids at school. Learning English was a struggle, but through that experience I learned to fit in and to appeal to people different from myself. Scriptures like Romans 12, which warns against conforming to the patterns of this world, helped me decide which aspects of American culture to adopt and which to reject.

Could you give an example of something you chose not to conform to?

One example is dating. I never dated anyone in high school. The first person I dated is now my wife, whom I met in college. Going to prom or parties seemed normal for many American teenagers, but for me it would have been difficult to discuss with my parents. As an immigrant kid, those were not conversations I was ready to have.

How did those experiences shape your decision to go into finance?

Being different turned out to be a blessing. If I had grown up in a large Indian community here, I might have simply gone along with those around me. Instead, differences forced me to ask whether each practice was appropriate.

When Finny Kuruvilla and I started Eventide, we brought that same questioning mindset to investing. We asked: Are we just trying to make money, or can we honor God through our business? If God were an investor, what would that look like? Genesis 1 teaches that God’s work is good; Ephesians 2:10 says we are created to do good works. Romans 12 calls us to “hate what is evil and cling to what is good.”

Those passages became our framework: avoid investing in companies that harm neighbors, embrace those that serve, and engage with companies to encourage them to do good.

What kinds of companies do you avoid?

Tobacco is a big one. Anyone holding an S&P 500 index fund is likely invested in Philip Morris International, Altria Group, British American Tobacco or Japan Tobacco. These firms aggressively market cigarettes to children in developing countries; in parts of Indonesia, about 40 percent of boys aged 13–15 are addicted, and many start smoking around age nine. Parents saving for college through state 529 plans often don’t realize they’re profiting from that exploitation.

Online sports betting is another example. Companies like DraftKings have seen revenues soar, but gambling addiction contributes to higher divorce, suicide and bankruptcy rates. When you invest in those companies, you end up rooting for more people to engage in destructive behavior.

You started Eventide before terms like “ESG” and “impact investing” were mainstream. How do you see Wall Street’s perception evolving during this time, and what makes your approach distinct?

When we launched in 2008, people talked about “socially responsible investing,” which focused on excluding tobacco, alcohol and other products.

ESG shifted the focus to corporate practices—diversity, environment and governance—and often became associated with progressive causes. But Christians felt alienated because ESG didn’t reflect biblical values. It advocated for abortion rights, ignored harms from pornography and gambling, and promoted things contrary to our faith. Some Christians therefore avoided the values conversation altogether and focused on making money to give away later.

But John Wesley preached that we should “make all we can” without hurting ourselves or our neighbors. Christians led the movements to abolish slavery and end the slave trade; we should care about how our capital is used today. ESG investors may share the mission of using capital to influence the world, but their values often diverge from a biblical framework. I’m calling Christians who already share our values to become mission‑aligned by investing intentionally.

Why hasn’t this caught on more among believers?

It takes time. When I speak to everyday Christians, the response is strong: they don’t want to be invested in pornography, for example. But many Christian financial advisers have been trained to focus solely on maximizing returns and minimizing risk, and they hesitate to bring values into the conversation. I encourage them by saying the following: as a Christian adviser, you owe it to your clients to discuss how their investments align with their faith. If you don’t, they might hear about it from another adviser and wonder why you never brought it up.

Eventide’s mutual funds have been available for years, but you recently launched Exchange-Traded Funds, or ETFs. What led to this decision?

Our mutual funds have always been accessible—you could invest directly through Eventide or via brokerages like Schwab or Fidelity. We launched ETFs because we don’t want to be known simply as a mutual‑fund company. Our tagline is “investing that makes the world rejoice.” As investing shifts from mutual funds to ETFs, we want to offer the same values‑driven approach through the products investors prefer, without compromising our principles.

Perhaps it is the devil on my shoulder, but I imagine I'm hardly the first to wonder if am I sacrificing returns when investing with morals?

First, if wealth is an area where we seek to honor God, we should be willing to sacrifice some return to maintain integrity. Most people wouldn’t invest in a slave‑trade stock even if it promised higher returns. Why should it be different for pornography or abortion?

Second, I believe God’s principles work in this life. Following them shouldn’t hurt us over the long run. Studies of “biblically responsible” portfolios show performance similar to the S&P 500 over multiple decades. Dollars not invested in harmful sectors are deployed elsewhere.

At Eventide, we go beyond negative screens; we seek companies doing good. Factors like lower employee turnover, happier workers and higher customer satisfaction often correlate with long‑term performance. Companies focused only on short‑term shareholder value often make decisions that hurt returns in the long run.

How has the broader investment community responded? ESG seems to have cooled off recently.

We’ve done well. Our products are on major platforms—UBS, Ameriprise, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Raymond James, Fidelity, Schwab—and many secular investors invest with us. Even when personal values differ, people appreciate that we articulate our values winsomely.

Rather than using terms like “sin stocks,” we speak about life at all stages, freedom from addiction, family and community, environmental stewardship, and responsible management.

We focus on what we invest in—companies developing treatments for muscular dystrophy, Alzheimer’s, dementia, cancer, or trucking firms prioritizing drivers’ well‑being. Whether someone is Christian or not, they often want to partner with companies that serve human needs.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

For readers who aren’t entrepreneurs or CEOs: if your work loves your neighbor—like my mother, who served as a nursing aide for 25 years—you are doing good work. Continue loving God and neighbor through your vocation. And remember that investors have many options. Some people have to take the first job they can to feed their family, and we shouldn’t judge that. But when it comes to allocating capital, we can choose from thousands of companies. Let’s invest in those that serve real human needs.

Disclaimer:

Robin John is the CEO at Eventide Asset Management, LLC. Views expressed in this interview are intended for information purposes and do not constitute investment advice. Eventide does not provide tax, accounting, or legal advice. Eventide’s values-based approach to investing may not produce desired results and could result in underperformance compared with other investments. There is no guarantee that any investment will achieve its objectives, generate positive returns, or avoid losses.