Some of the most remarkable advances in medicine are happening inside companies most of us have never heard of.For Christian investors, that raises an intriguing question: Could investing in healthcare innovation offer financial opportunity while also supporting businesses working to serve their neighbors and address some of the world’s most difficult problems?Dr. Finny Kuruvilla believes it can.Kuruvilla is Co-Founder, Co-Chief Investment Officer, and Senior Portfolio Manager at Eventide Investments. With an M.D. and a Ph.D. in chemistry, he brings an unusual combination of medical, scientific, and investment expertise to faith-based investing.Where Faith, Medicine, and Investing MeetKuruvilla’s interest in investing began long before he entered the investment industry.His parents immigrated to the United States from India in 1973 with very little. As his mother worked as a bank teller, she learned the fundamentals of investing and compound interest and began putting those principles into practice.Kuruvilla watched his parents work, save, give, and steadily improve their financial situation. Their example shaped his own understanding of financial stewardship.Years later, while completing an M.D.-Ph.D. program in Boston, Kuruvilla received a modest stipend and began saving and investing on his own. With encouragement from a roommate studying economics at Harvard, he spent years reading and learning about investing.One influence was legendary Fidelity investor Peter Lynch and his well-known principle of investing in what you know. For Kuruvilla, that meant bringing together two areas of expertise: medicine and investing.Eventually, he began to see that investing in medical innovation could potentially affect far more patients than he could reach through clinical practice alone.Business as a Tool for HealingKuruvilla treated patients with serious blood-related conditions, including leukemia, lymphoma, and sickle cell disease. Through that work, he became increasingly interested in the role businesses could play in accelerating medical innovation.That vision eventually led Kuruvilla and Robin John to co-found Eventide with Jason Myhre in 2008.Their approach is grounded in a distinctly Christian understanding of investing. Jesus commands His followers to love God and love their neighbors. If investing means owning businesses, Kuruvilla argues, Christians should consider how those businesses affect the people they serve.Businesses can provide products and services that meet genuine human needs. That means investors can consider not only what they want to avoid but also what kinds of businesses they want to support.Rather than viewing faith-based investing solely through the lens of screening out objectionable companies, Kuruvilla encourages investors to ask a positive question: What kinds of businesses contribute to the common good and serve their neighbors well?The Promise of Healthcare InnovationHealthcare provides a striking example.Kuruvilla points to recent developments in treating pancreatic cancer, historically one of the most difficult cancers to treat.Researchers have made progress targeting RAS, a protein that signals cells to divide. When RAS is mutated, that signal can remain active, allowing cancer cells to continue multiplying. Scientists have long considered RAS extraordinarily difficult to target, but new therapies are beginning to change that.For Kuruvilla, breakthroughs like these illustrate what can happen when scientific discovery, entrepreneurship, and investment capital work together.Investors provide capital to businesses. Those businesses can then use that capital to develop medicines, technologies, and services that address real human needs.For Christians, this creates an opportunity to think about investing as more than simply pursuing a return.A Positive Vision for Faith-Based InvestingScripture reminds us that creation has been deeply affected by the fall. Disease, suffering, and death are part of that brokenness. While medical innovation cannot ultimately overcome the effects of sin and death, it can relieve suffering and offer a measure of healing in the present.That gives Christians a compelling framework for thinking about healthcare innovation. Investing can support businesses developing treatments, improving lives, and serving people facing profound challenges.This doesn’t mean financial returns are irrelevant. Investing still involves risk, and wise investors must evaluate companies carefully. But financial stewardship and concern for our neighbors do not have to be competing goals.As Kuruvilla explains, faith-based investing can move beyond asking only, “What should I avoid?†It can also ask, “What should I support?â€That shift offers a broader vision of stewardship—one in which Christians consider how the capital entrusted to them might support businesses that promote human flourishing and love their neighbors well.To learn more about Eventide Investments and its approach to faith-based investing, visit FaithFi.com/Eventide.On Today’s Program, Rob Answers Listener Questions:I received a $35,000 inheritance and would like to give part of it to two sisters serving as missionaries. Would that count as biblical giving, even if I don’t give it through a local church? I’m 83, on a fixed income, and also wondering whether I should put some of the inheritance into my reverse-mortgage line of credit rather than give a full 10%.If someone has a testamentary trust along with payable-on-death and transfer-on-death designations, what assets would actually pass through the trust? Would it mainly cover personal property or anything left outside those beneficiary designations?Resources Mentioned:Become a FaithFi PartnerEventide InvestmentsMovement MortgageFaithful Steward: FaithFi’s Quarterly MagazineFaithFi Field Guide: How Much Money is Enough? Our Ultimate Treasure: A 21-Day Journey to Faithful Stewardship by Rob WestWisdom Over Wealth: 12 Lessons from Ecclesiastes on MoneyLook At The Sparrows: A 21-Day Devotional on Financial Fear and AnxietyRich Toward God: A Study on the Parable of the Rich FoolFind a Certified Kingdom Advisor® (CKA)FaithFi AppDr. Finny Kuruvilla is the Co-Founder, Co-Chief Investment Officer, and Senior Portfolio Manager at Eventide Asset Management, LLC. Views expressed in this podcast 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. Remember, you can call in to ask your questions every weekday at (800) 525-7000. Faith & Finance is also available on Moody Radio Network and American Family Radio. You can also visit FaithFi.com to connect with our online community and partner with us as we help more people live as faithful stewards of God’s resources. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
