Loran Graham Co., a Spokane-based wealth management company, has seen significant growth in its managed assets and client volume since the company's founding in 2008, due to a growing acceptance of faith-based investing, says president and CEO Loran Graham.

The company currently manages over $140 million in assets for about 200 families.

Loran Graham Co. helps clients align their investments with their faith by screening companies to get a deeper understanding of their values and by providing clients with wealth management portfolios that hold companies that contribute to the betterment of humanity, says Graham.

"We've probably grown about fivefold," says Graham of the 16-year-old business. "We have the capacity to add two or three new clients per year that we think would be a good fit for our philosophy."

Loran Graham Co. operates from a business condo suite on the fifth floor of the Flour Mill building, located at 621 W. Mallon, in Spokane's North Bank neighborhood. The company does business in the same office it previously occupied when it first opened in 2008. 

The company moved to the Chase Building, at 601 W. Main, in downtown Spokane, in 2016, and after a seven-year stint in that space, Graham relocated the company back to the Flour Mill after completing a $300,000 renovation with design-build team Fusion Architecture PLLC, of Mica, and Spokane-based Yost Gallagher Construction LLC, in June 2023. 

Faith-driven wealth management involves a careful selection process of investment opportunities in which companies must contribute in some way to "human flourishing," says Graham.

"Contributing to human flourishing is a concept that sounds really attractive, but what that really looks like is (beyond) a company just making a good product that helps others through innovation, or technology, or meeting a need in the marketplace," he explains.

Investments are selected based on how environmentally sustainable a company's products are manufactured as well as consideration for the ethical treatment of a company's employees and their customers.

"It's not just the product or service itself, but how that company operates in its ecosystem," says Graham. 

The process isn't as restrictive of investment opportunities as it sounds, with less than 10% of all available publicly traded companies screened out as investments to avoid, he says.

"It still leaves quite a bit of choice considering there are 15,000 publicly traded companies," Graham says.

Graham is the company's only certified financial planner, as well as a licensed certified public accountant, and a certified Kingdom Advisor. His licenses allow him to work with clients across the U.S., he says.

The Kingdom Advisors designation is provided by the Atlanta-based nonprofit professional association of the same name that advocates for the integration of a biblical worldview into financial practices. 

Graham notes that someone with a faith-based investing portfolio isn't a better Christian than someone without one. 

"There's just an opportunity to honor God in ... how (they) make financial decisions," he says.

The company now has five employees, up from one employee in 2008. 

The business serves clients in 28 states, with 60% of clients based in the Inland Northwest.

Graham is taking a slower approach to business growth so he can continue serving his existing clients with a level of connection and communication that meets his standards, he says.

"As the markets grow, we will grow, but only if our clients are completely satisfied with the work that we're doing," he says.

Advisory services are provided by San Diego-based LPL Financial LLC, a national broker-dealer and investment adviser, that also provides market research, technical and security platforms, banking services, and operational support to independent financial advisers in the U.S.

Graham also works with over a dozen fund managers who help choose the companies that align with the faith-driven investment model. 

The idea of faith-based investing isn't Graham's, but is derived from a Judeo-Christian framework of values, he explains. The practice also is inclusive to clients of other faiths, adds Graham. 

"We have other clients that ... have different ideas and beliefs, and we welcome them as long as they want to work with us," he says. 

Faith-based investing has proven itself as a successful financial strategy Graham contends.

In 2013, Loran Graham Co.'s average client account size was about $500,000. Currently, the average account size per household is about $900,000, says Graham. 

Beyond meeting his client's financial goals, Graham says he helps clients understand and develop their values and priorities to include generosity, legacy planning, and the transfer of wealth to the next generation.

To achieve some of these philanthropic goals, his recommendations include the use of donor-advised funds and qualified charitable distributions.

"Donor-advised funds are great," says Graham. "It's more proactive, and it's something that families can get their kids on board with too ... to help with these decisions and help teach that generosity."

Outside of financial returns, Graham says he measures the success of the faith-driven wealth management strategy through the support of companies that are making a positive impact in the world.

"These are companies that we can feel good about investing in. That's what's unique about our niche," says Graham.

In the 11 years since the Journal last spoke with Graham, much has changed in his personal life, he says.

"I went through a very difficult divorce a few years ago, and it was a painful time for me personally to have to reconcile with my faith," he says. "It really reinforced my understanding of the whole reason why I was drawn to this faith-based approach."

Graham is now married to Ashley Graham, who works at the company as executive assistant and communications director.

Last year, Graham became a published author of "Investing With Integrity," which addresses faith-based investment. He also spends some of his free time flying aircraft as an instrument-rated private pilot.

"A lot of analogies can be made between aviation and financial planning. You need a flight plan and enough fuel to reach your intended destination, and there's all kinds of interference," he says. "The procedures and checklists are very compatible with my analytic mind as a financial planner and CPA."

Graham says the approach to investing is growing in popularity. Over 2,000 Kingdom Advisors, whose professional credentials are recognized by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, are serving clients. Additionally, Graham says some universities are now offering undergraduate and graduate degrees in financial planning that are coupled with a faith-based curriculum. 

"Developing a proficiency in this area of faith-based investment is based on the idea that the public marketplace, academia, and regulatory bodies in our industry have all recognized this approach as mainstream."