Carter LeCraw is an American investor and founder of American Values Investments, a firm he established over 30 years ago with a focus on value-based investment rooted in Christian principles. LeCraw was a speaker at the Free Market Road Show, co-organized by the Danube Institute and the Austrian Economics Center, in Budapest, where he sat down with Hungarian Conservative to discuss the rise of value-based investing in America, how it’s related to Hungary under Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, and the stakes of the upcoming election in ‘one of the most conservative Christian nations’ in Europe.
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You founded American Values Investments 30 years ago with a focus on value-based investment. I do not think many people, myself included, are familiar with this approach. Could you elaborate on it and explain how it shapes your firm’s strategy?
Well, I would like to start by saying that there are many of us in the United States—and probably here in Hungary as well—who believe that the Bible is the foundation of Western civilization. That is what we try to base our decisions on when we invest. In the United States, there is now a very large—and for several years steadily growing—interest in investing in a way that makes a cultural impact. Not just investing to make money, but investing in line with one’s values to make a difference.
There are many different firms involved. There is an organization called Kingdom Advisors, which I helped to get started early on. At the time, there were only about 15 of us; now it has grown to several thousand. There was recently a conference in Orlando with over 3,000 people from the investment and financial sectors.
When we first started, there was very little interest in a values-based approach to investing. Now there are hundreds—perhaps thousands—of advisers, mostly Christian, who are interested in incorporating their values into investments to help their clients integrate their values and their faith into their portfolios.
That is for the background. Personally, I am very grateful to be an American. Our company focuses on investing in a way that makes an impact on the United States. We are in Hungary now, which is great—I really value the connection we have with Hungary—but our specific goal is to create investments that have an impact on the United States of America.
If I understand correctly, that means you do not invest purely based on performance, but rather on cultural and civilizational considerations. How do you measure success?
That is a great question. Obviously, we track our investment performance very closely—that is one way we measure it. But we do not really have a precise way of grading or scoring the broader impact we are having, beyond how we evaluate the companies we invest in. We use a 500-point scoring system based on three American values: integrity, caring, and courage. If a company scores over 400, it can be included in at least one of our portfolios.
I would like to be able to measure impact more precisely. Financial success is easy to quantify, and many of these companies have delivered solid results—though some have not performed as well. There are times when we have to sacrifice some financial performance in order to integrate our values into our investments. One of the Bible verses we used to quote early on is: ‘But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.’
We have made millions of dollars for our investors over the years. However, we have not kept pace with the S&P 500, although we have been fairly competitive with the S&P 1500, which includes smaller stocks.
As you mentioned, value-based investment is receiving more attention in recent years in the United States. Does this have something to do with Donald Trump being elected and his administration making Christianity more prominent in public life?
Well, probably to some extent, but this growth has been ongoing for years. I am not sure I can fully answer that, but it probably has not hurt—it may even have helped. More broadly, the concept of aligning one’s money with one’s values has been developing for quite some time.
There has also been pressure on corporate America to change certain practices. One example is ESG, and another is the Human Rights Campaign, a major lobbying organization for LGBT interests. For years, it has put pressure on corporations to score highly on its index of inclusivity, rating companies on a scale from 0 to 100. Many HR departments simply assumed that achieving a high score there was inherently positive.
From our perspective, however, if a company scores highly with the Human Rights Campaign, it tends to score low with us, because we prioritize more traditional values. A couple of years ago, a figure from Nashville, Robbie Starbuck, began putting pressure on companies to align more closely with their shareholders’ values rather than with groups like the Human Rights Campaign. As a result, several companies reversed their positions on aggressively supporting LGBT initiatives and stopped reporting to HRC.
There were actually two companies that had fallen off our radar because they were reporting to HRC. Once they stopped reporting, they were back in our portfolios almost immediately.
Let us turn to Hungary. You mentioned that Viktor Orbán’s 2022 CPAC speech left a strong impression on you. Do you see parallels between his governance model, grounded in Christian values, and the work you are doing at your firm?
I first saw Viktor Orbán’s speech at CPAC in 2022. I do not know if I had even heard of him before, but when I heard that speech, I thought: ‘Who is that?’ The boldness to speak out for God and for Judeo–Christian principles—I was very impressed. That set me on a journey, and now I am here in Budapest for the second time.
I had the opportunity to meet the Prime Minister. We presented him with a proclamation from the state of Tennessee, from the Tennessee State Senate, commending him for his support of Christian and Judeo–Christian values.
‘It is hard to imagine someone matching Viktor Orbán in standing up for Christian values’
I very much appreciate what he has stood for here—the emphasis on law and order and traditional family values has been tremendous. There is so much pressure to go in the opposite direction, and I am genuinely pleased that he has been willing to stand firm.
One of my goals has been to connect one of the most conservative Christian nations in Europe, Hungary, with one of the most conservative Christian states in the United States, Tennessee.
And how is this goal progressing?
Very well. A delegation from Hungary visited our town a few weeks ago to connect with our local university. Interestingly, none of them had ever eaten at Chick-fil-A. It is surprising how many people in Europe are unfamiliar with it, given that it is considered a model company in the United States, operating according to strong Christian principles, including closing on Sundays.
We have been facilitating exchanges between our regions. Our state senator even recorded a video that was shown at a workforce development seminar here recently. This is my second visit, and the cooperation is developing positively. One of my ambitions is to see Chick-fil-A open a restaurant in Budapest.
So the cooperation is ongoing, and we want to keep it that way, because there are so many shared values with Hungary.
As you mentioned, Hungary, and Orbán in particular, has faced significant pressure for maintaining this kind of Christian identity within the European Union. With a crucial election approaching in April, how do you see that from a civilizational perspective? What are the stakes?
I think it is a very important election. I am deeply grateful that Donald Trump has endorsed Viktor Orbán. Péter Magyar may have some good ideas, but Orbán is the one who has stood up to Europe and the wider Western world, kept Hungary safe, and resisted these woke ideologies. That takes courage.
I do not know whether Magyar would be as strong—it is hard to imagine someone matching Viktor Orbán in standing up for Christian values and ensuring the country’s security, including resisting pressure from Brussels when necessary. He is the one who has gotten Hungary here, and I hope that he will win the election.
Do you see any other countries applying similar values?
Yes, I would say that many people may not openly admit it, but because Viktor Orbán stood up and said those things—such as in his CPAC speech—it was a foundational moment for the whole West, not just for Hungary and the United States. Since then, we have seen a number of conservative Christian leaders step forward. You have El Salvador with Bukele, Kast in Chile, and Milei in Argentina.
We are also seeing other leaders in Europe beginning to speak more openly about Christian values. I think Viktor Orbán was one of the first—alongside Donald Trump—to show the boldness to speak about them, and that has helped give others around the world the confidence to do the same.
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