Overview
CBIS’s mission is to serve Catholic investors seeking to transform the world through their investments. Achieving this goal requires providing compelling investment opportunities aligned with Catholic values. While CBIS has more than four decades of experience managing Catholic assets, meeting today’s demands requires additional scale and resources.
To support this, CBIS has made a significant investment in expanding the Catholic Responsible Investments Team, representing the largest financial commitment in the firm’s history. This investment reflects a forward-looking strategy focused on serving a global Catholic investor base.
Why CBIS Pursued a Strategic Relationship
Catholic investors in both U.S. and international markets have been seeking more dynamic and diversified investment offerings. While CBIS has meaningful scale, building a broader product lineup would require more resources than could be achieved through organic growth alone.
After extensive discussions with asset managers, consultants, custody banks, and trust companies, CBIS determined that forming a strategic relationship with a leading global investment consultant was the most effective path forward. Mercer was selected as the partner best positioned to meet both near-term and long-term needs.
Role of Mercer
Mercer will act as an extension of the CBIS Investment Team, providing support in areas such as solution design, manager research, due diligence, and sub-adviser relationship management. Mercer will also contribute to portfolio construction and investment strategy development.
A newly formed Catholic Responsible Investments Committee will include representatives and subject matter experts from both CBIS and Mercer, across U.S. and international markets. This committee will oversee investment decisions, drawing on internal and external expertise as needed.
Importantly, CBIS retains full discretion over all investment decisions, including product integrity, portfolio construction, and manager selection. The relationship is designed to enhance capabilities without changing CBIS’s core role.
Impact on Investment Capabilities
The relationship with Mercer significantly expands CBIS’s access to resources, allowing the Investment Team to focus more on high-value activities. Time-intensive functions such as manager research and due diligence will be supported by Mercer’s global platform.
This expanded capacity enables CBIS to broaden its investment offerings across additional asset classes and strategies. It also supports plans to grow portfolio management capabilities outside the U.S., including expansion into regions where the Catholic Church is growing most rapidly.
CBIS anticipates that increased resources will also lead to greater engagement with portfolio companies, including a significant increase in shareholder advocacy efforts.
Investment Philosophy
The relationship with Mercer does not change CBIS’s investment philosophy. CBIS will continue its manager-of-managers approach, which aligns with Mercer’s investment philosophy emphasizing multiple complementary managers and active management strategies.
CBIS maintains full control over investment decisions while leveraging Mercer’s research and insights to enhance outcomes.
Impact on Clients
The strategic relationship is designed to strengthen, not replace, existing client relationships. Clients will continue to work with their CBIS relationship managers as their primary point of contact.
The enhanced resources and expanded capabilities are expected to improve service, broaden investment options, and deliver more robust Catholic investment solutions over time.
Looking Ahead
CBIS expects that this relationship will position the firm to deliver a more comprehensive and globally relevant suite of Catholic investment solutions. By combining CBIS’s deep experience in Catholic Responsible Investing with Mercer’s global scale and research capabilities, the firm aims to better serve Catholic investors worldwide.
Important Information
Carefully consider the funds’ investment objectives, risks, and charges and expenses. This and other information can be found in the funds’ full and summary prospectus, which may be obtained by visiting www.cbisonline.com or by calling 1-866-348-6466. Please read the prospectus carefully before investing.
Investing involves risk, including loss of principal. Asset allocation does not guarantee protection against market risk. There is no guarantee that these strategies will result in positive performance.
Catholic Responsible Investment is designed to align financial returns with the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. Investment decisions may exclude or sell companies that conflict with these criteria, which could impact performance. Funds may underperform those that do not apply these guidelines.
The funds are distributed by SEI Investments Distribution Co., which is not affiliated with CBIS, the adviser, or Mercer.