Every score shows its working.

The score, step by step

Catholic and Evangelical scores start from 100 and move only for the reasons below. Each one is shown on the stock page with the rule and its source.

Starting point

100

A company with no involvement found in anything its tradition excludes.

Limited involvement

up to −25

Something the tradition allows with a cost, such as conventional weapons for Catholics or a shop that sells alcohol for Evangelicals. The deduction is named on the stock page.

An open question

50 to 74

Something the evidence cannot settle yet, such as a hospital group whose services are not published.

A rule broken

1

An activity the tradition excludes, with the source quoted.

The result falls into one of three bands:

• Aligned 75 and above
• Needs review 50 to 74
• Not aligned 1: a rule broken
• Not enough data No business or financial figures to score

Islamic results work differently: the verdict comes from the AAOIFI tests, and the score stays inside the verdict’s band. Compliant companies score 75 to 100, higher the further they are from the limits; companies that need review score 50 to 74; a company that fails a test scores 1. News never changes an Islamic or Christian score.

Business activities

We look for revenue from industries each tradition excludes. When a company reports its business segments to the SEC, we use those figures. Otherwise we estimate from its industry classification and company description, and the stock page says the figures are estimated.

We apply the standard as written. It doesn’t prohibit defence, tobacco, music, cinema, TV or hotels, so they aren’t excluded, although some index providers exclude them. A hotel’s or a supermarket’s sales of alcohol or pork still count toward the 5% limit.

We decide a company’s main business from its official SEC industry code and its industry classification. How much of its revenue each activity brings comes from the company’s own reported or documented figures — its annual report, or a source on our curated list. A mention in a company’s description never counts as revenue. When a company sells something prohibited on the side — a supermarket selling alcohol, say — and doesn’t report how much, we use a documented figure if one exists; otherwise the result is Needs review, naming what isn’t reported.

For companies that file with the SEC, we read revenue by division and by product line from their latest annual report. A division whose name clearly names a prohibited business, such as ‘Pork’, ‘Beer’ or ‘Casinos’, counts toward the 5% limit (3/4/4), and above half of revenue it is the main business (3/4/1). A name that only might mean one, such as ‘Credit’ or ‘Financial Services’, gives Needs review until someone reads the report. We can only see what a company reports separately: a prohibited product sold inside a wider division, such as bacon within ‘Prepared Foods’, is covered by industry estimates and Needs review instead.

Islamic banks and insurers that run entirely on Shariah contracts pass the business test, and the financial ratios below don’t apply to them, as S&P and MSCI also do.

Financial ratios

Islamic screening follows AAOIFI Shari’ah Standard 21. A company is compliant only if it passes every test below; the stock page shows each one with our figure and the limit.

Figures come from the company’s latest annual report. For companies that file with the SEC we read the filing and check it against Yahoo Finance; for others we use Yahoo alone and say so. Debt means borrowing: loans, bonds, commercial paper and finance leases, not bills from suppliers, tax, pensions or ordinary rent. Cash counts all of it, because companies don’t say which accounts earn interest.

When a figure isn’t reported, we try a safe upper estimate: if even that passes, the test passes. When the estimate can’t settle it, or our two sources disagree in a way that changes the answer, the result is Needs review rather than a guess.

Financial ratios apply only to Islamic screening. Catholic and Evangelical guidelines don’t set financial limits.

Purification and Zakat

The company’s prohibited income for the year, divided by its number of shares, is the amount per share to give to charity. It applies to whoever holds the shares at the end of the company’s financial year, whether or not a dividend was paid.

AAOIFI Shari’ah Standard 21 (3/4/6) sets the rule for purification: the company’s prohibited income for the year, interest included, divided by its shares. Whoever holds the shares at the end of the company’s financial year gives that amount per share to charity, whether or not a dividend was paid. Where interest income isn’t reported separately, we use an upper estimate and say ‘at most’. Faithful Invest’s portfolio page adds it up for your holdings.

The portfolio page also estimates Zakat on your shares, following AAOIFI Shari’ah Standard 35. If you hold shares long term, Zakat is due on the company’s zakatable assets per share (clause 4/2/4): its cash, the money owed to it and its stock of goods, less its share of the debts it must pay within the year (clauses 2/1/1 and 6/1/2). Reports don’t say which debts paid for which assets, so we deduct them in proportion to the company’s zakatable assets, as clause 6/2/3 directs; long-term debts aren’t deducted (6/1/1). If you trade shares, they count as trade goods and Zakat is due on their market value (4/2/4, 5/2/2). The rate is 2.5% for a lunar year, or 2.577% if you count a solar year (3/2/4).

The estimate covers your shares only. Whether Zakat is due depends on nisab (85 grams of gold, clause 3/2/2) and on the rest of your wealth, which we don’t see. It isn’t religious or financial advice.

Positive signals

Faithful Invest does not award bonus points for positive signals or keyword matches. Scores strictly reflect adherence to each tradition’s published guidelines and financial standards.

Recent news

Company pages show the latest headlines from Yahoo Finance, for context only. Nothing reads or scores them: no AI is used anywhere in a result. Screening uses the company’s reported figures and verified activities, never headlines, so news never changes a verdict or score.

Funds and ETFs

A fund is scored from the companies inside it. We follow the index the fund copies, such as the S&P 500 or MSCI World, and check every company in that index against your tradition. Funds that copy the same index share one score: VOO, IVV, SPY and the S&P 500 funds sold in Europe all get the same result.

A fund can hold slightly different companies from its index, some cash, or derivatives. A few funds don’t hold the companies at all and earn the index’s return through a swap contract; their page says so. Funds that follow an index we don’t cover show their price and details, and you can ask us to add them. Checking a fund doesn’t use one of your daily checks.

Data and its limits

• Financial statements and segments come from SEC EDGAR filings or, for European companies, ESEF annual reports where available; prices, profiles and headlines come from Yahoo Finance.
• Companies with neither an SEC filing nor an ESEF report, for example in Switzerland, Canada or Australia, are checked on Yahoo Finance data only, which is less precise.
• Fund scores depend on the holdings fund companies publish and on our check of each company. Companies we can’t identify or score are left out of the average and shown as not scored.
• Scores can change as new filings come out and company activities are updated.
• Faithful Invest is for information only. It doesn’t recommend buying or selling anything. Speak to a qualified adviser before you invest.

Sources

• AAOIFI Shari’ah Standards, especially Standard 21 (Financial Paper).
• USCCB Socially Responsible Investment Guidelines (November 2021).
• GuideStone Funds prospectus (SEC Form 485BPOS, July 2026).
• SEC EDGAR company filings. For companies listed in the EU, the EEA and the UK, we read the annual report they must file in ESEF format, from filings.xbrl.org.
• Yahoo Finance.
• European Central Bank euro reference rates.

The Catholic check follows the USCCB Socially Responsible Investment Guidelines (November 2021) and the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The Evangelical check follows the GuideStone Funds prospectus.

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