Identification and analysis of the actors, practices and activities related to Christian finance - Identification et analyse des acteurs, pratiques et activités de la finance chrétienne

2013/06/18

"Princificats" (définition)

"Contraction de l'expression « principes financiers catholiques ». Parmi eux, on peut distinguer les principes d'origine cléricale (princificats cléricaux) et les principes d'origine laïque (princificats laïcs) ; les principes d'origine doctrinale (princificats doctrinaux) et ceux d'origine biblique (princificats bibliques) ; ceux qui concernent les infrastructures financières (princificats généraux) et ceux qui ont vocation à s'appliquer au niveau transactionnel (princificats opérationnels). Ils se distinguent des principes financiers œcuméniques (chrétiens non catholiques, musulmans, juifs,...) et des principes financiers éthiques profanes (finances solidaire et responsable)" (A. R. Cuny de la Verryère, Finance catholique : au fondement de la finance éthique et solidaire, EMS, 2013).

In A. Cuny de la Verryère’s book (“Catholic Finance” “Finance catholique”, EMS, 2013), this word is the contraction of the expression in French “Principes financiers catholiques” (literally “Catholic financial principles”) and may refer accordingly in English to the expression "Principles for Finance & Catholics” (Princificats). Among them it can be distinguished between the principles of clerical origin (clerical princificats) and the principles of lay origin (lay princificats), the principles of doctrinal origin (doctrinal princificats) and those of biblical origin (biblical princificats), those related to financial infrastructure (general princificats) and those intended to be applied at the transaction level (operational princificats). They are to separate from ecumenical financial principles (non-Catholic Christians, Muslims, Jews, ...) like the Principles for Finance & Reformed Christians (called “Princifires”) and non-believer financial ethical principles (solidarity finance and SRI finance).

2013/06/17

Indice financier chrétien (exemple)

STOXX Limited, a global index provider and creator of the leading European equity indices, announced in ZURICH on April 26, 2010 the launch of the STOXX Europe Christian Index. The new index measures the performance of companies selected from the STOXX Europe 600 Index according to the values and principles of the Christian religion.

The STOXX Europe Christian Index is designed to act as a proper benchmark for actively managed funds, and to underlie exchange-traded funds and other investable products that enable investors to participate in the performance of European companies which are compliant with Christian moral and social doctrines.

“With the launch of the STOXX Europe Christian Index, STOXX acknowledges the growing number of Christian market participants who wish to invest in accordance with their religious beliefs,” said Hartmut Graf, chief executive officer, STOXX Ltd. “The new index provides a broad representation of European companies who act responsibly on an ethical, environmental, social and economical level; and are therefore in-line with Christian values.”

To ensure the quality of the index and the integrity of the underlying index methodology, an independent committee has been established to define, build and implement the screening criteria. It is made up from experts of the Christian community, as well as members of the academic and investment community. The index universe for the STOXX Europe Christian Index is defined as all stocks in the STOXX Europe 600 Index. To be included in the index, stocks must pass a set of screens for compliance with Christian values and principles, which are conducted by the Independent Committee led by CBIS.

Excluded from the index are companies which do not meet predetermined tolerance levels for certain areas of activity, such as for example pornography, strategic and non-strategic weapons, birth control and gambling.

The STOXX Europe Christian Index is weighted by free-float adjusted market capitalization, and each component's weight is capped at 20% of the index's total freefloat market capitalization. It is reviewed semi-annually in June and December. Daily history is available back to December 31, 2004. The STOXX Europe Christian Index is available in price and net return versions, and is calculated in Euro and U.S. Dollar (USD).


INDEX REVIEW

Component selection
Target coverage: all companies in the STOXX Europe 600 Index that indicate high levels of competence in addressing Christian values (social, environmental, ethical and economic responsibilities) as a business approach. For inclusion to the index, strict limits are applied to the company’s share of revenues generated in the following areas: pornography, weapons, tobacco, alcohol, birth control and gambling. The screening of companies is performed by an independent committee.

Review frequency: The STOXX Europe Christian index is reviewed on a semi-annual basis. Weighting cap factors: The components are capped at 20% on the quarterly review.


ONGOING MAINTENANCE

The components of the STOXX Europe Christian index are monitored for eligibility. If a company is no longer eligible it is removed from the index at the next quarterly review.

Replacements: Stocks deleted from the STOXX Europe 600 are deleted from the STOXX Europe Christian index without replacements.

(Link : http://www.stoxx.com/indices/index_information.html?symbol=SXCHP