Istituto per le Opere di Religione (IOR), commonly known as the Vatican bank, has launched two equity benchmarks with Morningstar aimed at aligning investments with Catholic ethical criteria through a more rigorous and transparent framework.
The Morningstar IOR Eurozone Catholic Principles Index and the Morningstar IOR US Catholic Principles Index each comprise 50 medium- and large-cap issuers, according to a statement from IOR.
The benchmarks are intended to support performance measurement and reporting for assets managed in line with the Social Doctrine of the Church.
Constituents of the eurozone index include UniCredit, Allianz, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA), Banco Santander and Hermes International.
The US index includes Meta, Nvidia, Amazon, Apple and Tesla, alongside JP Morgan and Broadcom.
The indices “are designed to serve as a reference for Catholic investments worldwide”, IOR said.
IOR manages €5.7bn in assets, including pension fund assets.
According to its latest available financial statement for 2024, the institute excludes from its investment universe companies that, directly or indirectly, own or operate hospitals and specialised centres providing abortion services, manufacture abortion products, or manufacture contraceptive products.
It also excludes companies involved in the use of embryonic stem cells; manufacturers of controversial weapons such as anti-personnel mines, chemical weapons, nuclear weapons and cluster bombs; companies engaged in the production and distribution of small arms; and activities deemed to have a negative impact on the environment and sustainable development.
Robert Edwards, managing director EMEA at Morningstar, said: “Investors increasingly seek benchmarks that reflect specific values-based or policy-driven criteria. Morningstar’s transparent, rules-based approach ensures client-defined standards are applied consistently and objectively.”
IOR’s chief financial officer and head of asset management Giovanni Boscia added: “Having benchmarks built in accordance with Catholic ethical criteria allows us to make our performance assessment and reporting processes even more rigorous and transparent.”
IOR’s clients include entities of the Holy See and the Vatican City State, embassies and diplomats accredited to the Holy See, dioceses, and Vatican employees and pensioners, among other institutions and individuals.
Last year, Pope Leo XIV removed IOR’s exclusive mandate over Holy See investments.
In an Apostolic Letter published in October, he wrote that the administration of the patrimony of the Apostolic See generally makes use of IOR’s internal organisational structure to determine investment activities of the Holy See, “unless the competent bodies deem it more efficient or convenient to use financial intermediaries established in other States”.
