Invest With Integrity

Jan. 1, 2025

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors celebrates 10 years of serving Catholic institutions and families, building up the Church through ethical investing and charity

By Columbia staff

Jan. 1, 2025

Members of the Knights of Columbus investment management and support team — Members of the investment management and support team led by Supreme Director Tony Minopoli (sitting, second from right), chief investment officer and president of Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors, are pictured at the Order’s headquarters in New Haven, Conn. KoCAA has a growing team of nearly 200 financial advisors across the United States. (Photo by Paul Haring)

For the past decade, Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors has helped Catholic dioceses, institutions and individuals ethically manage their investments to ensure they are consistent with Catholic social teaching. Now with $28.9 billion in assets under management for nearly 6,000 clients, KoCAA, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Knights of Columbus, has grown significantly since it was established in February 2015.

The idea to enter the underserved Catholic institutional investment market came in 2011, from a K of C-sponsored conference in Chicago on the topic of sustainable and ethical investments. Dioceses, religious orders and other institutions had searched for decades for ways to invest confidently without risking their integrity and Catholic values. Discussions during and after the conference suggested that the Knights, with its robust record of faith-consistent investment for its general fund, could offer a solution.

“It’s important to Catholics that their investments are not in conflict with their faith and values,” said Anthony Minopoli, KoCAA president and chief investment officer. “Part of our mandate as the Knights of Columbus is that we refuse to invest in companies whose products or policies contradict Catholic teaching, so people can have confidence in that.”

All securities managed by KoCAA are likewise screened and analyzed to ensure they align with Catholic values, based on guidelines from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. After six years of primarily serving Catholic institutions, KoCAA launched the Investment Advisor Representative program in 2021, providing individual investors — both Knights and others — access to faith-based investment solutions.

“We are poised to become the go-to financial resource for Catholic families,” Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly said in his inaugural annual report in 2021. “Father [Michael] McGivney created the Order to protect those families. And we are advancing that mission into exciting new territory.”

To that end, from guaranteed income fixed annuities offered directly through Knights of Columbus to growth opportunities from KoCAA mutual funds, Catholic families can take a holistic approach to their financial and retirement goals. Investors can also find KoCAA-managed funds on popular wealth management platforms.

And unlike an investment firm’s typical model, where profits go to the shareholders or partners, a portion of KoCAA’s profits returns to the Knights of Columbus and supports the Catholic Church, evangelization and charity within the community. As investments grow with KoCAA, so too the potential positive impact on causes close to the hearts of Knights.

“We want to help Catholics achieve their financial goals so they can care for their families and communities,” Minopoli explained. “And unlike Wall Street firms, our priorities don’t just include strong performance and competitive fees, but also compliance with Catholic teachings, and our profits support the charitable mission of the Order and the Church.”

KoCAA is also finding ways to promote faith-consistent investment funds in all corners of the world. In November, KoCAA sponsored the second Mensuram Bonam Summit; held in London, the summit was named after a 2022 document from the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences that discusses key principles that Catholics should consider in relation to ethical investing.

For more information, please visit kofc.org/familyfinance.

Invest With Integrity

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