Liz talks with Art Ally, founder of Timothy Plan, a Biblically Responsible Investing family of mutual funds (and now ETFs) who launched the Israel Common Values Fund. “The Bible says that God set aside Israel for the Jewish people in Genesis 15:18. Since its re-establishment 76 years ago, the modern nation of Israel has had a special relationship with America. Israel now hosts over 2,500 U.S. companies employing some 72,000 Israelis, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. It has the highest concentration of engineers and the most scientists and technicians per capita than any other country. Israel leads
This is Liz Franzel with Crawford Media Group, and today our guest is Art Alley, founder and president of Timothy Plan, the nation’s leading biblically-based pro-life, pro-family mutual fund group. We’ll be talking about their Israel Common Values Fund and why they feel it’s important to support Israel. Welcome back to our program, Art.
SPEAKER 02 :
Liz, it is always a highlight of my day to talk to you.
SPEAKER 01 :
Thank you. Art, tell us a little bit about Timothy Plan before we get into our topic.
SPEAKER 02 :
Sure. We are, for the executive summary description, a mutual fund family. We have 19 different funds in different asset classes. We’re just like all the other funds in the industry with one major exception, and that is our biblical screening process. We refuse to allow our money management firms to to invest in any company that is, for lack of a better term, pursuing an unholy agenda. And for some reason, corporate America gets involved in way too many cases in supporting or funding abortion, for example, pornography, LGBTQ++, whatever that is, anti-family entertainment, addictive things you know that are we are pro-life pro-family but we follow biblical principles and if god says don’t do it we won’t own companies that are doing that stuff and that’s what really does set us apart liz you know i think that’s amazing and and probably not very easy on your part because it’s all of those things that you mentioned that it’s rampant and oh yeah it’s not that hard i just have a team of eight people that do nothing but that research And, you know, I wouldn’t want to be on that team because, you know, you just shake your head and say, what the heck? You know, a lot of companies, Liz, that we screen out are making good products. Why they get involved in the dark side, we don’t know. Other than I do understand that the war that we’re in, and it is a cultural war, but it’s spiritual war. The only way I can understand, you know, there’s right and wrong, there’s good and evil, there’s light and dark. I don’t understand why on their side, but if they’re involved in that, we’re not going to point fingers and condemn them. We just won’t own shares of their stock. So our shareholders that have… a moral foundation can feel very comfortable that you don’t have to own shares in those stocks to be involved in the investment world. When we started it, Liz, 31 years ago, my friends on Wall Street said, Allie, you’re nuts. What are you talking about I’m nuts? Of course, my wife throughout our marriage kind of said that too, but that’s a different story for a different time. I said, what do you mean I’m not? And they said, you cannot create, and this is back in the beginning, an investment platform that screens out the largest, most profitable companies in the industry and expect to get good investment returns. Well, that was 31 years ago. My answer then hadn’t changed in 31 years. If you are a Bible-believing Christian, especially, Or somebody with a moral foundation. Obedience trumps performance every time. God says, don’t do it, don’t do it. And so that is the way we have operated. And, you know, we’re still here 31 years. Our managers are doing a good job. You can’t predict the future of investment returns. But we have gotten competitive returns over these 31 years. And our shareholders are very happy. with the way we’re managing it, and they feel good. They’re not compromising their values. So that’s what sets us apart.
SPEAKER 01 :
And I think that’s such a great thing for Christians to know that they have that option because, you know, unfortunately, you put your money with an investment firm and you have no idea what they’re putting your money into, and it could absolutely go against all of your morals.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, that’s the big problem because, you know, unless you’re in the business, you really don’t understand how it all works. You just depend on somebody. But, you know, we have developed tools over these 31 years, and we equip financial advisors with these tools that will tell you how much money you might have invested with companies that fail these basic biblical screens. so people can now know, and we provide that through financial advisors. And if any listener wants to call us, we’ll be glad to let them know. Just tell us the name of the fund you’re in, and we’ll run a complimentary report for you, and you might be shocked. And I have to add this. It’s not because these funds are doing this on purpose. It is because if they’re not intentionally screening out companies based on these values, they’re going to end up owning them. And the question is, do you really want the money that God’s entrusted to you to be invested in this way? That’s why we launched Timothy Plan 31 years ago.
SPEAKER 01 :
It’s so good to know that there’s someone like you out there to give us options. Let’s talk about the Israel Common Values Fund that you have and tell us why you feel it’s important to support Israel.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, that’s one of my favorite ones because it had nothing to do with investing and investment returns. Back, golly, how many years ago now, I think when Obama won his second term, America was not, Israel was not getting a lot of love from America, either our government or corporate America. Now you see the universities going crazy. They weren’t getting a lot of support. And, you know, I am a Bible-believing Christian. I understand that Israel is where the original covenants God made with us took place. And his word is very clear, you know, if you love Israel, you’re going to be in good shape, and if you hate them, you’re going to be in trouble. So I called our international money manager, because we have an international fund as well. And I asked him, I said, John, can we create a new fund that will only invest in companies based in Israel? He said, let me get back to you. So he called in a couple of days. He says, we can do this. We launched it, and it turns out they are an economic powerhouse over there. Their whole culture is so creative. They lead the world in new discoveries in the medical field and technology and finance. You know, it’s just a very creative country. And, of course, they’re surrounded by people who want to push them into the sea. But God’s hand is protecting those people. And, you know, it’s been one of my personal favorites because it lines up with my scriptural beliefs.
SPEAKER 01 :
Right. And that is absolutely biblical. You know, the Bible tells us to pray for peace in Israel and to bless them. And what is that? Psalms 122, right? Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. They shall prosper that love the peace be within thy walls and prosperity within thy palaces forever. So that’s so important. But, you know, I’m sure people have that question, well, what’s going on with Gaza? And, you know, Israel cut their supplies off. What do you say to that?
SPEAKER 02 :
You know, Israel is sort of like America. You know, we’ve got the church here, and the church in America has kind of compromised with the culture. And when you do that, you’re going to end up in trouble. I think all the problems in America lie at the doorstep of the church, personally, because they have not been the guardian of the culture more recently. They have adopted the culture in order to draw more people. Israel was hitting a little bit on the pagan side, and maybe God was punishing them. He’s done it throughout scriptural history, but maybe not. I don’t know. But I do know this. His covenant with Israel is permanent. It isn’t going to change. And, you know, he gets a little disappointed when they kind of stray a little bit, but so do the rest of us stray a little bit. But Israel, you know, if anybody asks me to prove God exists, all I have to do is point to Israel. Mm-hmm. I mean, since 1948, they’re surrounded and outnumbered, you know, a thousand to one by people that want to push them off the face of the earth, and they’re still there, Liz. They’re still there. So they are God’s people. They do stray like we do. But Israel is, I mean, if you’re not scripturally conversant, you’re going to miss it, because throughout Scripture from Genesis to Revelation, Israel is God’s chosen people. So that’s why we do the Israel Fund. But as it turns out, you know, they’re doing a pretty darn good job. Now, when they get attacked like they did, you know, in this current war going on, they actually dropped in a single day, that market dropped a bunch. And then within two or three days, it bounced right back up. And this sounds kind of horrible to say, but, you know, for the stock market, war is a profitable thing in a lot of cases because the defense industry is churning them out. So Israel is still doing very well.
SPEAKER 01 :
Tell us, what benefit does the Israel Fund offer as part of the portfolio of biblically responsible investors?
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, it gives people a chance to directly invest in the company that God calls his special treasure. It is a form of diversification. Would I put all of my portfolio in Israel? No, I wouldn’t put all my portfolio in any one thing. But it belongs in there. It is a… a good diversification, but it’s a chance for people to directly invest in that country that throughout Scripture God has described as his special treasure with them. And I believe over time they’re going to do very well. They have so far. We launched it, I don’t know, maybe 12, 13, 14 years ago.
SPEAKER 01 :
We’ve been visiting with Art Alley, founder and president of Timothy Plan, the nation’s leading biblically-based pro-life, pro-family mutual fund group. And we’ve been talking about their mutual fund, the Israeli Common Values Fund, and why they feel it’s so important to support Israel. Art, what takeaway would you give to our listeners today?
SPEAKER 02 :
Takeaway. I’ve been doing this, Liz, for a long time. Getting to be close to 50 years now. The thing that breaks my heart in the investment world is way too many people end up losing money because of two emotions, fear and greed. If you invest properly, first get out of debt, have an emergency fund and all that before you worry about investing. But if you invest prudently with a good managed family of funds, and I think we are, qualify for that. And the money managers are investing in good companies that are well-run and profitable. But if you stay the course and you own good companies, you are going to end up doing pretty well normally.
SPEAKER 01 :
Where should our listeners go to learn more about Timothy Plan and how they can invest biblically?
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, it’s really easy. They can go to the website that even I can navigate. It’s really simple. timothyplan.com, or call us. The number is 800-TIM-PLAN for Timothy Plan, and a human being will answer the phone, and not a computer, and connect you with another human being who can answer all of your questions and provide you with any information you might like. And I would challenge the audience, Liz, Call us with the name of one of your funds if you’re already invested. And we’ll run a, it’s called the evaluator. We’ll run a free evaluator report for you. And then you can see where the money’s invested. It makes it very visible. But we’re easy. I mean, we’re here to take care of people and to service people. We don’t try to sell anybody anything. But it’s what we do. It’s what God called us to do. And, you know, we’ve been pretty good. darn faithful for the last 31 years.
SPEAKER 01 :
Art, thank you so much for joining us today and sharing about your company and this fund.
