Advisory Firm Inspire Investing Faces SEC Charges for Misleading Investment Strategy Claims

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged Idaho-based investment advisory firm Inspire Investing LLC with making misleading statements and compliance failures in implementing its “biblically responsible investing” strategy.

According to the SEC's order, Inspire Investing claimed that it used a data-driven approach to evaluate companies and that it would not invest in companies that had “any degree of participation” in certain enumerated business practices that Inspire has determined to be inconsistent with biblical values. However, the SEC's order found that, at least for the period from 2019 through March 2024, Inspire Investing in fact relied on a manual research process and typically did not conduct research on individual companies to assess whether those companies met its investment criteria.

The SEC’s order alleged that Inspire Investing also lacked written policies and procedures setting forth a process for evaluating companies’ activities as part of its investment process, which at times resulted in inconsistent application of its investment criteria. As a result, Inspire Investing invested in companies engaged in activities that did not align with Inspire Investing’s own stated criteria and in which the advisory firm represented that it would not invest.

Inspire Investing consented to the entry of an order by the SEC. Without admitting or denying the SEC's findings, Inspire Investing agreed to accept a censure and cease-and-desist order, pay a $300,000 penalty, and retain an independent compliance consultant.