This Faith and Finance podcast is underwritten in part by The Good Investor, a book by Robin John. This Faith and Work memoir hopes to inspire readers to view their work and investments as opportunities to honor God and bring blessing to the world. You can learn more now at goodinvestor.com. That's goodinvestor.com. Servant leadership isn't a soft skill and may be one of the most important indicators of long-term business health.
Hi, I'm Rob West. When investors evaluate companies, they often focus on numbers, but behind every enduring business is a leadership team shaping culture, risk, and resilience. Dolores Bamford joins us today to explore why the character of a company's leaders can matter as much as its financial performance. And then it's on to your phone calls at 800-525-7000. That's 800-525-7,000.
This is Faith in Finance, biblical wisdom for your financial decisions. While Dolores Bamford serves as Co-Chief Investment Officer and Senior Portfolio Manager at Eventide Asset Management, a valued underwriter of this program, Dolores, it is a treat to have you back with us today. Hi, Rob. Thanks for having me. Of course.
And Dolores, you've spent decades in investment management, including time at many of the major firms and now serve in a faith-aligned investing role at Eventide. I'd love for you to start today by just sharing how your professional journey has shaped the way you approach leadership and investing today. I'd love to. I have thirty years of experience working in investment management. including uh starting my career at Fidelity, working at Putnam, Goldman Sachs, and now at Eventide Asset Management.
I spent over two decades focusing on. Managing directly portfolios and being a portfolio manager. And what I want to focus and what I want to highlight with you is that. I've been increasingly focused on quality, resilience, the long term in investing for human flourishing. And I think The most important Aspect of my career is focusing on leadership and leadership quality as essential for a lasting business success.
Yeah, it's a key part of value creation, and we're going to unpack that today. I want to take just a minute more, though, and talk about some of your training because you actually have formal theological training alongside your long-term finance career. And I'd love for you just to share how that blend of deep investment experience and theological study shape the way you approach your work there at Eventide? That's right. After Goldman Sachs I went back to seminary.
Studied and got a master's in theology, church history, also working on a doctorate for ethical leadership. And I thought that it was a wonderful Addition to my career in focusing on the biblical grounding. of integrity and humility. Stewardship and servant leadership as part of a successful business and successful investing. And I believe that it gave me a clearer lens to evaluate.
Faith and values and purpose. In business. And I really came out of seminary really focused and having conviction that faith and finance really belong together in enabling to create a successful business. I love that. You made a comment just a moment ago that you have a growing conviction that leadership quality is essential to lasting business success.
I'd love for you to unpack that a bit more. Why does leadership carry such weight? Leadership carries so much weight because it guides and shapes A company's culture. It's product development, as you said, it's financials. It's the people they hire and The growth of it longer term.
It's the way that management behaves. and how it directly affects everything about a business, its risk, its resilience, its growth, its future. Strong products really can't compensate for poor leadership. and over time the outcomes that are driven by people Not numbers, not just numbers, really drive the performance of a company longer term. Mm.
Dolores, do you believe this element of evaluating a company has been overlooked by many when they're evaluating companies in your seat? I do. I believe that this is an important attribute that's being overlooked by other investment managers. Yeah.
Well, I love that you all are going in. I know you have a process called Business 360, where you look at the entire company, not only its leadership, but how it cares for and thinks about its impact on all of its stakeholders from suppliers to communities, of course, customers and employees. And we'll continue to unpack this. In fact, we'll dig a little bit deeper into some of these leadership characteristics of strong management teams and what that actually looks like in day-to-day practice and how that comes into the investment analysis done by Dolores and her team. We're joined today by Dolores Bamford with Eventide Asset Management, a valued underwriter of this program.
And we'll continue to talk about investing in the people behind the profits right after this. Stay with us. Imagine having biblical financial wisdom delivered to your inbox every week, helping you integrate your faith and financial decisions for the glory of God. At FaithFi.com, you can join a community of over 70,000 people who are already receiving our weekly wisdom email, filled with articles, videos, podcasts, and exclusive offers on resources that will deepen your understanding of biblical stewardship. Start your journey today by creating your FaithFi account at FaithFi.com.
Just click sign up. Faith in Finance is thankful for support from The Good Investor, a book by Robin John. In this book, Robin shares his journey from an immigrant child struggling in school to co-founder and CEO of Eventide Asset Management, a faith-based investment firm. This Faith and Work memoir seeks to inspire readers to view their work and investments as opportunities to honor God and bring blessing to the world. More information is available.
At goodinvestor.com. That's goodinvestor.com. Uh Oh. Great to have you with us today on Faith and Finance. You know, investing isn't just about returns, it's about the kind of world our capital helps to build.
And every day, Eventide Asset Management and underwriter of this program is evaluating companies not only to provide returns, but to invest in companies that make the world rejoice. Because if we think about it, our investment is capital being supplied to businesses that should be creating goods and services that are good and serve people. Part of that analysis is looking at the actual companies and their leadership. And we're joined today by Dolores Bamford. She's co-CIO and senior portfolio manager at Eventide Asset Management and underwriter of this program.
Dolores, before the break, we were talking about the role of leadership. And you've used terms like integrity, humility, and servant leadership to describe strong management teams. But I'd love for you to describe what that looks like in day-to-day practice. I'd love to, Rob. And I just wanted to tell you how important servant leadership is that I've seen throughout my career as well as in my theological study.
But servant leadership really is about being passionate and committed To the well-being and success of others.
So we look for leaders who generally care about their employees. and encourage them To perform their best, and those that really care about their customers and wanting them to thrive and succeed in the world.
So leaders who are intentional. about building a healthy, positive culture. Managers who have humility and values that are paired with. Real excellence could be operational or financial as well as an expertise. They can use innovation and technology.
not recklessly, but very responsibly and in a purpose driven way. To help others. And they have a long-term mission-driven mindset. That Can enable them to really focus on long-term enduring success as opposed to chasing short-term gains. Yeah, that's really helpful.
Dolores, before the break, we said that this idea of focusing on quality leadership as companies are evaluated is often overlooked. Why do you think that is? Why is that rare? And does that pose a risk? It is rare, and it can be a risk if it's not pursued, but I believe that the stock market or the behavior of the market can cause a constant pressure for managers to focus on short-term profitability and have sort of a transactional view of people and of their business and value creation.
And there are also cultural incentives that often reward managers for selfishness, arrogance, over-humility, and selflessness. and serving others well. And technology by itself can amplify good or bad. But what's really important is how leaders use it, good and bad leaders use in those decisions around technology that make a difference.
So the risk is that Poor leaders. Can tend to focus on short-term gain and practices that can ultimately harm people. And for good leaders, good leadership. Can produce a stable, healthy, adaptable and growing business for the long term.
So let's talk about what this looks like in practice. How does the team that you and others lead there at Eventide evaluate management teams when you're deciding whether a company belongs in your portfolio? Our approach is really a blend of qualitative insight as well as more quantitative analysis. We spend time with the leadership of companies in interviews and getting to know them. We try to understand their purpose, their priorities, their character, how much they know about the business and the industry.
We assess the culture and the values and the credibility of the organization and the business that they run. And we also get confirming insights from others, either internally or externally, to confirm the quality of the leadership in the management team.
So clearly, this is more than simply analyzing the numbers. Dolores, why is it important to evaluate both what a company produces and how it operates when assessing its leadership? It's really important to first understand the management's purpose and strategy because that will also influence the product and practices. And it's eventually the products and practices that actually impact society or their customers. That's really where the impact is on the world.
And so it's really important to also understand the products and to see how they're adding value to others and the practices in terms of how they're being delivered. And when there's a misalignment with management's purpose and the products and practices. It could really have a negative effect on society. And so we're really focused on those that can add value. to their customers or to the world of well-being and being consistent.
With their stated purpose and their behavior, and how that impacts how the company is pursuing those products and practices. Yeah, that's fascinating. We're talking today with Dolores Bamford with Eventide Asset Management. If you want to learn more, just head to EventideInvestments.com. Dolores, I want to unpack this just a bit more.
What are you looking for in terms of signs of a good leadership team? And then, maybe on the flip side, what are some of those signs of a poor leadership team that you'd stay away from? There are many commonalities in good leaders that we see and particularly that I've seen over the course of my thirty years. And they're consistent with Christ's teachings. And it very much involves servant leadership, as we said before, and that can include a sense of humility, integrity, a sense of transparency and the willingness to Recognize that you make mistakes and willingness to learn.
It also reflects a discipline and an excellence about the way they approach their business. Consistent communication as well, and the focus on serving others well. Poor leaders we've seen are marked with Greed and arrogance, this self-orientation, and this excessive focus on near-term profits. And we can see that also in a history of poor treatment of employees or customers, and eventually develop products and practices that harm people. Yeah.
Well, it's powerful work and I know it's making a difference. I'd love for you to finish today by just sharing what you personally find most rewarding and fulfilling about partnering with companies led by teams like you just described. It's so fulfilling and inspiring to watch companies that are succeeding by serving others well. seeing companies change for the better. for customers thriving in an environment because of the businesses and their help.
seeing the excellence through good times and bad and seeing that resilience. And ultimately, seeing great leaders have great alignment between excellence and purpose and doing the right thing. Wow, that is powerful.
Well, we're so honored to be partnered with you to be able to share this good work. And I know you and the team wake up every day thinking about investing in companies that make the world rejoice. And that's worth giving your life to, isn't it? Absolutely. Thank you so much.
Absolutely. Our guest today has been Dolores Bamford with Eventide Asset Management, a valued underwriter of this program. Remember, folks, great companies start with great leaders, and serve it leadership helps create lasting value. Hey, if you want to learn more about investing in companies that promote the global common good, you can do that at EventideInvestments.com. That's EventideInvestments.com.
All right, your phone calls are next. The number 800-525-7000-that's 800-525-7000. Or if you'd prefer to email your question, send it to us at askrob at faithfine.com. I'm Rob West, and you're listening to Faith and Finance: biblical wisdom for your financial decisions. We'll be right back after this break.
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Hey, thanks for joining us today on Faith and Finance. I'm Rob West. We've got lines open. We're ready for your questions: 800-525-7000. Call right now.
Let's go to Texas. Eileen, thanks for calling. How can I help? Thank you. I have a question.
I'm getting ready to start taking payments from my annuity. Yes. And I wanted to do the giving from the annuity. If I do not reach the maximum Standard deduction for a single person. Do I get the tax benefits from taking that out of my annuity and paying it directly to?
Um a charity. No, because when you take that money out of an annuity, you know, if this is a pre-tax annuity, so was this funded with before tax dollars? Meaning it's a qualified annuity? It was out of a formal one.
Okay, yeah.
So, this is what's called a qualified annuity, which means that there was not any tax paid on the money that went into the 401k that's now in the annuity.
So, typically, what happens is when you take a distribution from an annuity, those are typically taxed as ordinary income. And then you can claim a charitable deduction if you turn around and give. That money away, but only to the extent you give, and you acknowledge this, above the standard deduction.
So you have to give enough to be able to itemize for this year.
So that's only the only way to do it. You can't give directly.
Now, you could transfer the ownership of the annuity to a charitable organization, and then the charity could receive the future payments, and then you'd get a tax deduction for the fair market value of the annuity. But apart from that, you would have to take the money out. It would be taxable, and then it would only be a deduction if you can itemize and get above that standard deduction. Does that make sense? Yes, it does.
And that is a perfect answer to my question. Excellent. Lord bless you, Eileen. Thanks for your generous heart. We appreciate it.
And call anytime. Let's go to Mississippi. Chris, how can I help? Yes, sir. I am a Prison Minister volunteer and I drive, but I'm on disability.
And of course, my right officer because me making very little, but I just had a lot of money stolen from me by family and so called friends. And I've got to get my taxes paid and my credit cards paid is the right thing to do no matter what I've been through. And I heard you mention a man that was maybe a retired IRS agent that helped with stuff like that. And just any advice you could have me, because I just got put on disability. And for the first time in years, I've got maybe sixty days.
If I had to, I could live. Yeah, I do have someone, and I'd be happy to give you the information off the air. He's not taking new clients, but does, as a favor to us, connect with a few folks throughout the year, and he really specializes in this. And, you know, for anyone who is looking to resolve taxes owed to the IRS, you really need someone with tax resolution experience. You know, this could be an enrolled agent who's a tax resolution specialist, where they specialize in IRS negotiations.
They have experience representing taxpayers before the IRS. They have familiarity with negotiating payment plans and what are called offers and compromise or penalty abatement, where the penalties can actually be waived. In other cases, where there's legal exposure issues or large penalties or potential liens, a tax attorney could be really helpful and provide legal protections and strategies. In sensitive cases. And then CPAs with IRS resolution experience could be helpful as well.
People who specialize in back taxes and so forth.
So it's really about getting current with the IRS. And what we've talked about before on this issue is, you know, starting with the most current year, getting in compliance with what you owe right now, even if you have the other years, previous years that are still outstanding, I think demonstrating your willingness and ability to get current right now is important. And then working with the IRS, and despite their reputation, they are very willing to work with you to get you back in compliance. And again, that could look like, you know, an offer and compromise where you pay less than what's owed in the form of a settlement. It could look like a payment plan where you work with something that fits in your budget and you just start making progress toward getting it paid back.
But I think that would be the key. And Chris, if you hold the line, We'd be happy to get your information or share the information with you to connect with the gentleman you heard on the air that really does have an expertise in this area. That'd be great.
Alrighty, listen, you stay on the line. Our team will get connected with you and we will get you everything you need to know. Thanks for your call today, Chris. Lord bless you.
South Carolina, Alan, how can I help? I've been listening to you for a long time and I've I've heard a lot of answers to a lot of questions, but I've got another one.
Alrighty. What is an HDI? Yeah, are you talking about essentially when you say HEI, are you talking about a home equity investment? Yes, sir. Okay, yeah.
So essentially, it is a way to access cash from your home without taking out a loan or making monthly payments, where an investor gives you a lump sum of cash, and in return, they receive a percentage of your home's future value. You don't make monthly payments, there's no interest rate, and you settle up later, usually when you sell the home or refinance or at the end of the term. But it's not something that I recommend. It's very expensive. If the home appreciates, you give up future equity.
The fees and terms are very complex. And then you have to repay when you sell, refinance, or hit the term. And it's really not ideal if you expect to stay long term, especially in a rising market. What I would prefer if you're 62 or older is that you retain full ownership, including all the upside potential. And if you need to either pay off an existing forward mortgage and get rid of a payment because you're struggling to make ends meet, or you need to access some of the equity in the home, I would use what's called a home equity conversion mortgage, a reverse mortgage, before I would do an HEI, a home equity investment, if that makes sense.
It does, and that's why I called you, 'cause I the investment thing didn't sound quite kosher to me. Yeah, no. I've talked to another company about doing a. Equity line of credit. Um The interest rates are terrible.
Um But it's it's like a second mortgage. Oh yeah, yeah. Are you talking about a, so a HELOC, a home equity line of credit or a home equity conversion mortgage? I really don't know which one it is, Rob. It's the interest rate is like 10%.
Oh, yeah. Yeah, you shouldn't have that. I mean, a home equity line of credit right now, you should have, you know, maybe prime plus a half. Probably if you have a good credit score, you could even buy that rate down. Similarly, with a home equity conversion mortgage, so unless you don't have documented income or you have a low credit score, you shouldn't be anywhere near 10%.
Let's talk a little bit more off the air. That's going to do it for us. Let me say a big thanks to my team today. Anthony, Amy, Dan, and Jim, couldn't do it without them. Also, the rest of the team here at Faith Buy.
Come back and join us tomorrow. We'll see you then. Bye-bye. Faith in Finance is provided by FaithBy and listeners like you.
