Ave Maria Mutual Funds: Catholic Values for ETF Investors Seeking Alignment

Look, if you build portfolios the way I do — mostly low-cost ETFs for broad exposure, steady compounding, and minimal fuss — you eventually run into this question from clients who care about more than just returns. They want their money to line up with their deepest beliefs. That's where ave maria mutual funds come in. They're not ETFs, and that's actually part of the point. They offer something the ETF world hasn't fully replicated yet: a full family of actively managed mutual funds built around strict pro-life, pro-family Catholic screens.

The family has been around for 25 years now, managing roughly $3.7 billion across eight no-load funds. They're the largest Catholic mutual fund lineup in the U.S., and they operate with one simple rule — you shouldn't have to choose between decent long-term performance and staying true to your values.

The Catholic Advisory Board and the Four Moral Screens

What sets ave maria mutual funds apart is the Catholic Advisory Board. It's not some marketing checkbox. Prominent Catholics — folks like Raymond Arroyo, Paul Roney (the chairman), and more recently Michael Knowles — meet regularly to set and review the moral criteria. The board draws directly from core Catholic teachings on the sanctity of life and the family.

They apply four main screens that knock out companies involved in:

• Abortion-related activities (certain drug makers, hospitals, insurers, and retailers)
• Embryonic stem cell research (same types of companies)
• Corporate contributions to Planned Parenthood
• Pornography production, distribution, or promotion (media companies, hotels, retailers, internet and cable providers)

Only about 5% of the Russell 3000 gets screened out, so the investable universe stays plenty wide. Every stock still has to pass rigorous financial tests first — strong returns on capital, sustainable competitive advantages, attractive valuations. The moral filter is the final gate, not the starting point.

The result? Portfolios of 35–50 stocks, low turnover, and a genuine dual mandate: competitive returns without compromising on pro-life and pro-family principles.

The Fund Lineup at a Glance

The family covers most of what a diversified investor might need:

• Ave Maria Growth Fund (AVEGX) — Large-growth focus, targeting companies with above-average earnings potential. One of the bigger funds with over a billion in assets.
• Ave Maria Value Fund (AVEMX) and the newer Value Focused Fund (AVERX) — Mid-cap value plays looking for undervalued businesses.
• Ave Maria Growth Focused Fund (AVEAX) — Growth-oriented with a smaller/mid-cap tilt (it and the Value Focused Fund got name updates in 2025).
• Ave Maria Rising Dividend Fund (AVEDX) — Large-blend income strategy emphasizing companies that raise dividends year after year.
• Ave Maria World Equity Fund (AVEWX) — Global large-cap growth for international exposure.
• Ave Maria Undiscovered Fund (AVEUX) — Smaller companies the managers believe the market hasn't fully appreciated yet.
• Ave Maria Bond Fund (AVEFX) — Intermediate core-plus bond fund for the income side (this one actually picked up a 2025 LSEG Lipper Award).

All carry a $2,500 minimum and trade as traditional mutual funds — end-of-day NAV pricing, full daily liquidity if you need it.

Performance Reality Check (as of late May 2026)

Markets don't care about your values, so let's be straight about the numbers. Year-to-date, the Value Focused Fund was sitting around +17.4% and the Growth Fund near +16%, both looking solid relative to their categories. The Rising Dividend Fund had a tougher stretch at roughly –1.7% YTD amid whatever rotation was happening. The Bond Fund delivered steady 1.5% or so in a higher-rate environment.

Longer term, several funds have posted competitive results against benchmarks while maintaining the screens. One mid-cap offering even carried a 5-star Morningstar rating on risk-adjusted returns at points. The managers are value-oriented bottom-up stock pickers who buy when things are out of favor and hold with conviction. That's the same discipline I preach with ETFs — time in the market beats timing the market — just applied inside a values framework.

Past performance never guarantees future results, obviously. But the track record shows it's possible to clear the moral bar without leaving too much return on the table.

Why an ETF Person Should Even Look at These

Here's the honest take from my seat. Broad-market ETFs — total U.S. stock, international, bond ladders — are still the backbone of almost every portfolio I build. They're cheap, tax-efficient, and brutally effective over decades. But when a client says, "I don't want any exposure to companies funding abortion providers or pushing pornography," the ETF menu gets thin fast. There isn't a major passive ETF that applies this exact Catholic Advisory Board process with the same rigor.

That's the niche ave maria mutual funds fill. Think of them as a satellite allocation — maybe 10-20% of the overall portfolio — while the core stays in low-cost ETFs. You get active stock selection, dynamic screening that can adapt as companies change behavior, and peace of mind that your money isn't quietly supporting things you oppose. The trade-off is higher expense ratios (0.40% on the bond fund up to about 1.25% on some equity ones) and the usual mutual-fund quirks around capital-gains distributions. For many faith-aligned investors, that's a price worth paying.

Practical Stuff: Costs, Access, and Fit

Fees sit higher than pure ETFs, but they include the active management and the board oversight that makes the screens credible. No loads, no transaction fees at most major brokers. You can buy them directly or through an advisor. The $2,500 minimum per fund is straightforward — nothing crazy.

Who are they for? Catholics and other pro-life, pro-family investors who want their portfolio to reflect those convictions over a 10-, 20-, or 30-year horizon. They're not for someone chasing the absolute cheapest beta or who plans to trade frequently. They're for patient capital that values alignment as much as alpha.

One More Thought

At the end of the day, investing is personal. If the moral screens matter to you, ave maria mutual funds give you a clean, long-running vehicle to act on it. Pair them with your favorite low-cost ETFs for the heavy lifting on diversification and cost control, and you've built something that actually matches both your spreadsheet and your conscience. That's the kind of portfolio that tends to stay the course when markets get noisy.

Time in the market beats timing the market — values and all.