Wright Investors' Service, an institutional investor with about $4 billion under management, has applied for approval for a new mutual fund specifically targeted to Roman Catholic investors.
The Catholic Investment Trust was created at the request of Catholic institutional investors and as a result of comments on investment policy by various Catholic officials, including prominent bishops and Pope John Paul II, said Walter R. Miller, an executive consultant at Wright, Bridgeport, Conn. The fund will have both an institutional class of shares and a retail share class.
Wright expects the fund to be used by Catholic pension funds and other asset pools of dioceses, as well as other non-profit organizations that share common social investment goals. Retail marketing will target Catholic specialty publications and, perhaps, religious television. The fund likely will receive Securities and Exchange Commission approval by February.
The Catholic Trust will invest in companies that display a consistent adherence with the core teachings of the Catholic church, said Mr. Miller. Wright Investors' will invest in about 100 companies for the fund that are approved by an advisory board. Mr. Miller said the board won't use a social investment screen used to approve the list of investments proposed by Wright Investors'.
The advisory board will be chaired by Tom Melady, former U.S. ambassador to the Vatican and the chairman of the National Committee of the Catholic Campaign for America.
Other board members are Margaret Heckler, former ambassador to Ireland and secretary of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare; Bowie Kuhn, a former baseball commissioner; Bill Wilson, the first U.S. ambassador to the Vatican; and Tom Monaghan, chief executive officer of Domino Pizza.
- Christine Williamson
