Faith, Finance and the Great Philosophers

In a footnote to his recent paper, "Active Share and the Three Pillars of Active Management: Skill, Conviction, and Opportunity," Martijn Cremers cites the views of Plato, Aristotle and Aquinas on the importance of practical wisdom. Referencing philosophers might be unusual in the field of finance, but Cremers said it's simply a natural outgrowth of his interest in philosophy and theology, which is partly what drew him to Notre Dame in the first place.

"I spent 10 years at Yale, five years at NYU, and before that I attended university in The Netherlands," he says. "One of the reasons I came to Notre Dame is that I was looking for more integration of my profession with my faith."

At Notre Dame, Cremers began teaching a popular annual undergraduate course on how to integrate Catholic Social Teaching with finance and business. He also began auditing undergraduate and graduate classes in philosophy and theology, including a few that he admitted were "over my head." Recently, he's been making an effort to apply what he's learned to his finance research.

"In Catholic Social Teaching there's this notion of seeing, judging and acting," he said. "You see that everywhere in Aristotle and Aquinas. So I tried to apply that framework to the investment manager. An investment manager needs to see where the investment opportunities are, judge them correctly, and then put that plan into action. You also need to be somewhat courageous and independent-minded to persist in a high Active Share portfolio."

In recognition of his efforts to bring together the worlds of finance and Catholic Social Teaching, Cremers was recently asked to deliver a series of talks to Notre Dame alumni groups around the country as part of the Hesburgh Lecture Series, something he called a great honor. The kind of interdisciplinary connections he's been able to pursue in South Bend is something different from what he's experienced at other universities, he said.

"Notre Dame is a special place that allows you to do that. The community here is conducive to learning from others, and coming to an understanding with others. I've learned so much from talking to people both inside and outside of the business school — in the law school, in theology, in philosophy. I've found it a very good place to have conversations, learn from others and make friends."

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