Praxis in the news

Welcome to the Praxis newsroom of interviews and articles featuring insights from the staff of Praxis Investment Management. You can also read updates on shareholder advocacy, community development investing, positive impact bonds by clicking the Insights link below.
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Why Impact Investing? Featuring Stella Tai

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Stella Tai, Praxis Manager of Stewardship Investing Impact and Analysis, joined the FaithFi podcast to discuss how faith-based investors can use their investments to make a positive impact in the world. During the interview, Rob West and Stella reflect on Philippians 2:4 and how investors can not only look after their own interests, but also to the interests of others, through their investment portfolios.

What values-based investing means to religious clients can vary widely

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Financial Planning spoke with Benjamin Bailey, Vice President of Investments and Senior Fixed Income Investment Manager at Praxis, for a story on the wide range of religious investors who choose faith-based investment strategies.

Impact Investing Influencers - Mark Regier

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Mark Regier, Vice President of Stewardship Investing at Praxis, sat down for an interview with Equities.com during the 2024 US SIF FORUM. The discussion covers how Praxis approaches stewardship investing, what sustainable investing topics are top of mind for Praxis investors and what’s next for the industry.

When stadium finance = demand for power

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Benjamin Bailey, CFA®, Vice President of Investments and Senior Fixed Income Investment Manager at Praxis, shared that “ballparks can be critical in community development plans for many small cities,” in a Bloomberg article which discussed the renovation of Four Winds Field, a minor league stadium in South Bend. Long-term municipal bonds can play an important role in financing critical infrastructures and entertainment projects central to the rehabilitation of underserved communities.

Speaking up for shareholders with Chris Meyer

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Shareholder advocacy gives faith-based investors the chance to engage with corporations in a positive way to change hearts and minds. Chris Meyer, Stewardship Investing Advocacy and Research Manager, spoke with Rob West, host of the FaithFi radio show, where he shared what investors should know about shareholder advocacy.

Incremental change for Earth Day and in shareholder engagement

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In an article written in celebration of Earth Day, Chris Meyer, Praxis Stewardship Investing Research Manager, applies the lessons he’s learned from reforesting his family’s land – planting over 10,000 trees over 15 years – to the incremental change created by shareholder advocacy.

U.S. poll prompts investor focus on political spending

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ESG Investor quoted Chris Meyer, Stewardship Investing Research and Advocacy Manager at Praxis, in an article in ESG Investor on shareholder advocacy during the 2024 proxy season. The article highlights the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR)’s corporate engagement on the topic of corporate political activity.

Unlocking opportunity

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Stella Tai, Stewardship Investing Impact and Analysis Manager, and Kersy Azocar, President and CEO of Greenline Access Capital write about unlocking opportunities for female entrepreneurs through non-traditional financing in the "Women & Investing" issue of the GreenMoney Journal.

30 Years of Faith-based Investing with Chad Horning

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As Praxis celebrates 30 years of making real-world impact through investment, Praxis President Chad Horning and FaithFi radio host Rob West discuss our rich history of faith-based investing. Horning discusses how values- and faith-based investing has evolved over the past three decades and what he sees next for Praxis and faith-based investing in the years ahead.

Guided by wonder: A Reflection on the stewardship of Creation

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In the “Faith & Finances” issue of the GreenMoney Journal, Chris Meyer, Manager of Stewardship Investing Research, shares insights on how investors can serve as stewards of God’s. Meyer reflects on how his sense of wonder motivates him to care for Creation and reflects on how his life outside the office influences his corporate engagement work.

Impact Investing with Chris Meyer

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Every shareholder has certain rights and privileges, and many investors wonder how to make a difference in support of their values with their investment dollars. Chris Meyer, Manager of Stewardship Investing Research at Praxis, talked with George Grombacher, host of the Aligned Money Show, on how investors can make a real impact through shareholder advocacy.

Stewardship investing was helping the world long before the impact and sustainability movements

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Equities.com editor Parris Kellermann interviewed Mark Regier, Vice President of Stewardship Investing for Praxis, on how faith-based investing led the trend of impact investing, the growth of Praxis funds, and his outlook on the younger generations’ desire to create change in the world.

Mark Regier on FaithFi podcast

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Mark Regier, Vice President of Stewardship Investing, sat down with Rob West, host of the FaithFi radio show and podcast, to discuss how faith-based investing relates to Creation Care and how investors can use their portfolios to ensure that they are good stewards of God’s Creation. Regier highlighted shareholder advocacy, green bonds and community development investing as three tactics that investors can use to support Creation Care as an investing goal.

2023 Faith-based Organization of the Year: Praxis Mutual Funds

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Praxis is honored to be named the Faith Based Organization of the Year by Environmental Finance. The award recognizes our commitment to helping everyday investors make real impact by aligning their faith and values with their investments.

Benjamin Bailey on the Investing With Integrity podcast

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How can faith-based investors “invest with integrity?” Benjamin Bailey, CFA®, Praxis Vice President of Investments and Senior Fixed Income Investment Manager, was interviewed by Jeff Talarico on the Investing with Integrity podcast. During their discussion, they touch on the meaning of stewardship investing, the importance of shareholder advocacy and trends in the investment industry.

A Matter of Faith

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Mark Regier, Vice President of Stewardship Investing for Praxis, was quoted in an article in Morningstar on the field of faith-based investing. The article shows the evolution and importance of faith-based investing as a chapter in the sustainable investing story.

Benjamin Bailey on the Money Life with Chuck Jaffe podcast

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Benjamin Bailey, CFA®, Praxis Vice President of Investments and Senior Fixed Income Investment Manager, appeared on the Money Life with Chuck Jaffe podcast. In the interview, Benjamin and Chuck discuss sustainability-linked bonds and what’s currently happening in the fixed-income market.

The podcast aired November 21 with Benjamin’s interview beginning at 8 minutes into the podcast.

Connecting green bonds and green buildings

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Each segment of the green bond market presents opportunities for real-world impact, shares Benjamin Bailey, CFA®, Vice President of Investments and a Senior Fixed Income Investment Manager. In the Green Buildings issue of the GreenMoney Journal, Benjamin discusses how fixed income investors can invest in green bonds that support the construction of green buildings as one way.

Calvert Impact raises $30m from initial C-PACE 'Cut Carbon' bond issuance

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Praxis was one of the first investors in the initial $30 million issuance of Calvert Impact’s Cut Carbon Note. The Cut Carbon Note is a fixed-income product that finances sustainability upgrades for commercial and multifamily buildings to reduce carbon emissions.

Shareholder advocacy with Chris Meyer on FaithFi

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How do you take on corporations that engage in policies and practices that don’t match your values? One way is through shareholder advocacy. Praxis Stewardship Investing Research and Advocacy Manager Chris Meyer outlined on the FaithFi radio show and podcast how faith-based investors can use stewardship investing to align their values and their investments.

Impact investing and faith: The journey starts with "why"

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There are many reasons faith-based investors choose to invest sustainably. Praxis Stewardship Investing Impact and Analysis Manager Stella Tai writes in Faith Driven Investor about some of those reasons, including focusing on community and the personal faith journeys of investors.

Faith is the reason "why" we at Praxis choose to invest sustainably

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FaithFi published an article by Stella Tai, Stewardship Investing Impact and Analysis Manager for Praxis, on the “why”s behind faith based investing. Focusing on the community impacts of our investments and driving investment choice are just two examples of how faith plays a role in our strategy.

Impact Rooted In Faith With Stella Tai

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How does faith influence our approach to impact investing? Praxis Manager of Stewardship Investing Impact and Analysis Stella Tai joined Rob West on Faith & Finance radio show and podcast to discuss her personal journey to a vocation in impact investing and to explore the Praxis commitment to community development investing.

ESG funds meet the skeptics

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Mark Regier, Vice President of Stewardship Investing for Praxis, was quoted in a recent article about sustainable investing. Mark shared insights on how sustainable investing and shareholder advocacy can affect what businesses do and how they behave.

Morningstar recognizes Praxis Mutual Funds

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Praxis Mutual Funds is honored that the Praxis Value Index Fund (MVIIX) was named as one of Morningstar’s 6 Top-Rated Funds From Sustainable-Investing Pioneers list. As part of Earth Day 2023’s “Invest In Our Planet” theme, Morningstar highlighted some funds from the pioneers of socially responsible investing in the U.S., including Praxis.

Guided by wonder: An Earth Day reflection

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FaithFi and Faith Driven Investor featured Praxis Stewardship Investing Research and Advocacy Manager Chris Meyer’s Earth Day article on how Christian investors can work toward a sustainable planet where their heirs can enjoy the magnificence of Creation and businesses can operate profitably without diminishing the earth. Read at Faith Driven Investor or click below to link to FaithFi.

Being "salt and light" in the world of investing

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Faith-based investors have many opportunities for their investments to make real impact, whether it’s encouraging companies to become better corporate citizens through company engagement or supporting underserved communities through community investing. Mark Regier, Vice President of Stewardship Investing, writes in Corporate Governance about the many ways investors can align their investments with their values.

Impact bonds to build the Kingdom

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Praxis Vice President of Investments Benjamin Bailey joined Rob West on FaithFi’s radio show and podcast to discuss the long history Praxis has with positive impact bonds and how Christian investors can use fixed income investments to create Kingdom impact.

Celebrating women and investing: An interview with Praxis Trustee Lori Scott

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For the GreenMoney eJournal’s “Women and Investing” issue, Praxis Trustee Lori Scott sat down with Stella Tai, Praxis Stewardship Investing Impact and Analysis Manager, to discuss her career, highlight the rise of gender lens investing and reflect on the contributions and achievements of women in the field of investing.

Climate issuer rule 'A Good Thing' for us

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The Securities and Exchange Commission's proposed climate issuer rule could help environmental, social and governance (ESG) fund shops engage with companies and get accurate data, said Praxis Vice President of Stewardship Investing Mark Regier in an interview with David Isenberg at Ignites.

Impact Investor recognizes Praxis Mutual Funds

The Impact Investor
Praxis is honored to be named to The Impact Investor’s list of Best Gender Equity Funds in 2023. The Impact Investor compiled its list of best gender equity funds to serve as a resource for investors interested in gender-lens investing and specifically called out our shareholder advocacy work. Read more from Praxis.

SEC must protect 'art', 'science' of ESG: Praxis

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At the Future of Asset Management conference, Vice President of Stewardship Investing Mark Regier discussed how Praxis Mutual Funds thinks about “Impact” in regards to the SEC’s names proposal and the ESG funds proposal with Ignites’ David Isenberg. In this video interview, Mark highlights how investing in the Praxis Impact Bond Fund makes an impact from a variety of angles.

Want to work towards a more equitable and inclusive economy?

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MoneyWise published an article by Stella Tai, Praxis Stewardship Investing Impact and Analysis Manager, on how faith-based investors can support small businesses in minority, rural and low-income communities by investing in community development finance institutions (CDFIs).

Mark Regier interviewed on MoneyWise

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Vice President of Stewardship Investing Mark Regier spoke with Rob West on MoneyWise Media’s syndicated radio show and podcast to discuss how Praxis Mutual Funds aligns its investments with Christian values. Mark talks about impact bonds, shareholder advocacy and community development investing and how faith-based investing gives investors the opportunity to make Kingdom impacts and provide for their families.

ESG investing in the Mennonite tradition: Praxis

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Vice President of Stewardship Investing Mark Regier discussed the Praxis approach to values-based investing with Ignites’ David Isenberg at the Future of Asset Management conference. In this video interview, Mark highlights how Praxis selects holdings for its funds by looking at both 'the social gospel' as well as ESG data. 

It's not a "nice thing!"

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There are many reasons why faith-based investors should consider community development investing (CDI) besides it being a “nice thing” to do. Vice President of Stewardship Investing Mark Regier discusses the importance of CDI to faith-based investors in the Faith and Investing issue of the GreenMoney Journal.

Finding hope for creation amid the challenges

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Faith Driven Investor featured Praxis Stewardship Investing Research and Advocacy Manager Chris Meyer’s Earth Day article on how he is inspired by the growing awareness and motivation among investors, the successes of shareholder advocacy, and the increase and deepening of corporate commitments.

Standing tall during the recent downturn

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 Benjamin Bailey, CFA®, Praxis Vice President of Investments, was interviewed on Faith Driven Investor Marks on the Market podcast about the Fed’s recent interest rate increases, the current state of the bond market and faith integration in fixed income markets. Benjamin joined host John Coleman and other leaders in the faith-based investing space.

Dealing with investor anxiety - Chad Horning interviewed on Moneywise

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President of Praxis Chad Horning joined Rob West on the nationally syndicated MoneyWise radio program to discuss how everyday people can think about their personal risk tolerance, the down market and what that could mean for their portfolio.

Company engagement should happen in fixed income as well as stocks

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At Praxis, we use the term “company engagement” as a broad way to refer to both shareholder advocacy and fixed-income engagement. Many investors and clients haven’t even thought about the opportunity of fixed-income engagement, but Praxis VP Benjamin Bailey wrote this article on the ways that Praxis uses fixed-income advocacy as another way to make real-world impact with our investments.

Did you tell your financial advisor you were prepared to ride out down markets?

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High rates of inflation, market volatility and recession risk have some investors wondering if they should ride out the down market. Chad Horning, President of Praxis Investment Management, explores what your reactions may tell you about your risk tolerance.

Chris Meyer interviewed on MoneyWise

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Praxis Stewardship Investing Advocacy and Research Manager Chris Meyer spoke with Rob West on MoneyWise Media’s syndicated radio show and podcast to discuss how the Praxis approach to stewardship investing goes beyond screening and how Christians can use shareholder advocacy to make a difference.

This pacifist, faith-based fund-management company is fighting gun violence in its own way

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After the Uvalde school shooting in May 2022, Mark Regier, Vice President of Stewardship Investing at Praxis, was interviewed by MarketWatch about how, as an investor committed to pacifist ideals, Praxis addresses gun violence from a culture basis, encouraging banks, retailers and video game producers to rethink their involvement with the gun industry and the promotion of gun-based violence.

Praxis featured in Christian Enterprise Solutions to Poverty report

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Praxis was recently featured in Duke Divinity School’s Ormond Center report on Christian Enterprise Solutions to Poverty. The report discusses the history of faith-based investing, how Christians are currently working towards social impact and what the future holds for faith solutions to poverty alleviation. The report also includes a profile of Praxis and the impact investing strategies it pursues.

Faith Driven Investor publishes "Where others fear to tread"

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As a part of a content series about investing in Africa, Faith Driven Investor published Stella Tai’s, Stewardship Investing Impact and Analysis Manager, article on the ways she witnessed God working through community development investments on the ground in Kenya.

Positive impacts of green and social bonds -  Benjamin Bailey on Mountain Money podcast

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Benjamin Bailey, Vice President of Investments, was interviewed on the Mountain Money radio show about how investors can make targeted, positive impact investments through green and social impact bonds. Benjamin talks with hosts Doug Wells and Alison Kuhlow about the different types of impact bonds, the history of green bonds and how the impact bond market is evolving.

Investing in women, impacting the world - Stella Tai's article in GreenMoney Journal

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How does gender play a role in impact investing? Stewardship Investing Impact and Analysis Manager Stella Tai discusses how gender lens investing can deliver real world impacts and how advisors can help their clients understand those impacts in the Women and Investing issue of GreenMoney Journal.

"Investing in Turbulent Times"- Benjamin Bailey interviewed on MoneyWise*

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Praxis Vice President of Investments Benjamin Bailey joined Rob West on MoneyWise Media’s radio show and podcast to discuss how Praxis uses optimized equity index funds and the Praxis Impact Bond Fund. Benjamin and Rob also discuss the use of screening as part of Praxis’ approach to impact investing and some current considerations for the average investor.

Disclosure

There can be no guarantee that any strategy will be successful.

Environmental Finance award judging process: An advisory panel consisting of industry experts chosen for their knowledge, objectivity and credibility along with the Environmental Finance editorial team will review the submitted entry material. Judges score each entry individually and any conflict of interest will be removed, the judge’s score will be confidential. The Judges’ decision is final and neither Environmental Finance nor the judging panel will enter into any correspondence regarding individual entries and/ or award winners.

BRI: Biblically responsible investing.

Duration: A measure of the sensitivity of the price (the value of principal) of a fixed-income investment to a change in interest rates. Duration is expressed as a number of years.

Yield curve: A line that plots yields, or interest rates, of bonds that have equal credit quality but differing maturity dates. The market rate (or “going rate”) for goods or services is the usual price charged for them in a free market.

NGO: non-governmental organization.

Rate of return is the net gain or loss of an investment over a specified time period, expressed as a percentage of the investment’s initial cost.

Gross domestic product (GDP) is the total monetary or market value of all the finished goods and services produced within a country’s borders in a specific time period.

The price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio is a stock valuation metric that compares a company's share price to its earnings per share (EPS).

The Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Index is an index of widely held fixed-income securities often used as a proxy for the bond market. It is comprised of the U.S. Treasury and U.S. agency bonds, mortgage-backed bonds, and higher-grade corporate bonds. Indexes are unmanaged, do not incur fees, and it is not possible to invest directly in an index.

The S&P 500 is a market-capitalization-weighted index of the 500 largest U.S. publicly traded companies.

The Russell 3000 is a market index that measures the performance of the top 3,000 U.S. publicly traded companies as ranked by market capitalization. The index is maintained by FTSE Russell.

You cannot invest directly into an index.

Foreside Financial Services, LLC, Praxis Mutual Funds and Praxis Investment Management are not affiliated with Calvert Impact Capital.

Opinions expressed are subject to change at any time, are not guaranteed and should not be considered investment advice.

Mutual fund investing involves risk. Principal loss is possible.

The Fund’s investment strategy could cause the fund to sell or avoid securities that may subsequently perform well, and the application of ESG and/or faith-based screens may cause the fund to lag the performance of its index.

ESG: environmental, social, governance

The MSCI ACWI (All Country World) ex U.S. Index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization weighted index that is designed to measure the equity market performance of developed and emerging markets, excluding the United States. The index consists of 44 country indices comprising 23 developed and 21 emerging market country indices. Indexes are unmanaged, do not incur fees and cannot be invested in directly.

The Morningstar Sustainability Rating™ is intended to measure how well the issuing companies of the securities within a fund’s portfolio holdings are managing their financially material environmental, social and governance, or ESG, risks relative to the fund’s Morningstar Global Category peers. The Morningstar Sustainability Rating calculation is a five -step process. First, each fund with at least 67% of assets covered by a company-level ESG Risk Score from Sustainalytics receives a Morningstar Portfolio Sustainability Score. The Morningstar Portfolio Sustainability Score is an asset-weighted average of company-level ESG Risk Scores. The Portfolio Sustainability Score ranges between 0 to 100, with a higher score indicating that a fund has, on average, more of its assets invested in companies with high ESG Risk. Second, the Historical Sustainability Score is an exponential weighted moving average of the Portfolio Sustainability Scores over the past 12 months. The process rescales the current Portfolio Sustainability Score to reflect the consistency of the scores. The Historical Sustainability Score ranges between 0 to 100, with a higher score indicating that a fund has, on average, more of its assets invested in companies with high ESG Risk, on a consistent historical basis. Third, the Morningstar Sustainability Rating is then assigned to all scored funds within Morningstar Global Categories in which at least thirty (30) funds receive a Historical Sustainability Score and is determined by each fund’s Morningstar Sustainability Rating Score rank within the following distribution: High (highest 10%), Above Average (next 22.5%), Average (next 35%), Below Average (next 22.5%), and Low (lowest 10%). Fourth, then Morningstar applies a 1% rating buffer from the previous month to increase rating stability. This means a fund must move 1% beyond the rating breakpoint to change ratings. Fifth, they adjust downward positive Sustainability Ratings to funds with high ESG Risk scores. The logic is as follows: If Portfolio Sustainability score is above 40, then the fund receives a Low Sustainability Rating. If Portfolio Sustainability score is above 35 and preliminary rating is Average or better, then the fund is downgraded to Below Average. If the Portfolio Sustainability score is above 30 and preliminary rating is Above Average, then the fund is downgraded to Average. If the Portfolio Sustainability score is below 30, then no adjustment is made. Since a Sustainability Rating is assigned to all funds that meet the above criteria, the rating it is not limited to funds with explicit sustainable or responsible investment mandates. Morningstar updates its Sustainability Ratings monthly. The Portfolio Sustainability Score is calculated when Morningstar receives a new portfolio. Then, the Historical Sustainability Score and the Sustainability Rating is calculated one month and six business days after the reported as-of date of the most recent portfolio. As part of the evaluation process, Morningstar uses Sustainalytics’ ESG scores from the same month as the portfolio as-of date. Please go to http://corporate1.morningstar.com/SustainableInvesting/ for more detailed information about the Morningstar Sustainability Rating methodology and calculation frequency. Sustainalytics is an independent ESG and corporate governance research, ratings, and analysis firm. Morningstar, Inc. holds a noncontrolling ownership interest in Sustainalytics. 

The Morningstar Sustainability Rating is depicted by globe icons where High equals 5 globes and Low equals 1 globe. Since a Sustainability Rating is assigned to all funds that meet the above criteria, the rating it is not limited to funds with explicit sustainable or responsible investment mandates.

Opinions expressed are those of the author or Funds and are subject to change, are not intended to be a forecast of future events, a guarantee of future results, nor investment advice. References to other mutual funds should not be considered an offer to buy or sell these securities. 

Credit Quality is determined from the highest available credit rating from any Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Agency (NRSRO). Credit ratings provided using MSCI's rating convention. The firm evaluates a bond issuer’s financial strength, or its ability to pay a bond’s principal and interest in a timely fashion. Ratings are expressed as letters ranging from ‘AAA’, which is the highest grade, to ‘D’, which is the lowest grade. In limited situations when the rating agency has not issued a formal rating, the rating agency will classify the security as nonrated.

References to other mutual funds should not to be considered an offer to buy or sell these securities.

Basis points (BPS) refers to a common unit of measure for interest rates and other percentages in finance. One basis point is equal to 1/100th of 1%, or 0.01%, or 0.0001, and is used to denote the percentage change in a financial instrument.

Diversification does not assure a profit or protect against loss in a declining market.

*Morningstar's active/passive barometer (October 2021).

Fund holdings:
  Praxis Growth Fund top ten holdings.
  Praxis Impact Bond Fund top ten holdings.
  Praxis International Index Fund top ten holdings.
  Praxis Small Cap Index Fund top ten holdings.
  Praxis Value Index Fund top ten holdings.
  Genesis Conservative Portfolio top ten holdings.
  Genesis Balanced Portfolio top ten holdings.
  Genesis Growth Portfolio top ten holdings.

You should consider the fund’s investment objectives, risks, sales charges and expenses carefully before you invest. The fund’s prospectus and summary prospectus contain this and other information. Please read them carefully before you invest.

Investment products are not FDIC insured, may lose value, and have no bank guarantee. Praxis Mutual Funds and Praxis ETFs are advised by Praxis Investment Management, Inc. and distributed through Foreside Financial Services, LLC.