The regular meeting of the Bountiful Latter-day Saint Investment Advisory Council (hereafter “AC”) convened on May 15, 2025 and was entitled: “Controversy Metrics.” The meeting was attended by roughly 20 individuals who have been selected to be members of the AC based on their unique professional and personal qualifications. Below is a brief summary of the topics discussed, the key takeaways, and actions resulting from the discussion.
Topic: Controversy types relevant to the Bountiful Latter-day Saint Investment Framework
Takeaways: The membership of the Church is diverse. It is challenging to determine how a representative Church member would assign relevance to various controversy types. A consensus decision can best be achieved by focusing on the positions of the institutional Church.
Action: Bountiful will place highest priority on the public policies and positions of the Church when identifying relevant controversy types for review. Bountiful will also continue to seek feedback from a broader more statistically meaningful sample of adherents to the faith as part of its focus on the “lived experience.”
Topic: Determining the severity of a controversy
Takeaways: Among other considerations, it is important to consider alternatives for stakeholders when assessing the severity of a controversy. With a company that has few or no peers in terms of industry, size, geographic presence, product offering, etc. any controversy may be more impactful because customers, employees, and even investors aren’t able to turn to that company’s peers.
Action: Bountiful will determine how account for this type of negative impact in its controversy assessment model.
Topic: Applying Bountiful’s three-dimensional controversy assessment model
Takeaways: While the members of the Committee generally understood the Bountiful’s proposed model for assessing controversies, there were still questions about how it might be applied in certain circumstances and edge-case scenarios.
Action: Bountiful will consider preparing several illustrative examples of how the model will be applied that can be shared with the AC for their review and feedback and that may eventually be included in the detailed controversy assessment methodology.
Topic: The impact of controversies on a company’s eligibility for investment solutions provided by or supported by Bountiful
Takeaways: Several members of the AC expressed concern about the exact mechanism whereby a controversy may trigger a company’s exclusion from Bountiful’s indices and other investment solutions. The members highlighted the need for a measured approach that acknowledges the controversy but doesn’t immediately lead to exclusion. The AC members also stressed the importance of an objective, rules-based approach. In addition, one AC member spoke about the importance of timing of any action against a company due to a controversy. Immediate exclusion may lead to poorer investment returns and limit the options for engaging with the company.
Action: Bountiful will formalize its methodology governing how and when controversies lead to exclusion from its indices and other investment solutions. This may be shared with the AC for further comment and feedback.