Religious principles and smart beta have come together with the debut of two exchange-traded funds from The Timothy Plan, a Maitland, Fla.-based firm focused on biblically responsible investing.

The Timothy Plan Large Cap Core ETF (TPLC) and Timothy Plan High Dividend Stock ETF (TPHD) track volatility weighted indexes developed by Victory Capital Management Inc., an ETF provider that specializes in factor-based investing strategies.

In the case of the large-cap core fund, the index universe starts with the Nasdaq Victory US Large Cap 500 Volatility Weighted Index comprised of the 500 largest U.S. companies by market capitalization with positive earnings in each of the four most recent quarters. Those companies are screened based on biblically responsible investing criteria that eliminates companies engaged in the alcohol, tobacco and gambling industries, or which are directly or indirectly involved in abortion or pornography, or promoting anti-family entertainment or alternative lifestyles.

Regarding the dividend-oriented ETF, its underlying index is composed of the largest 100 dividend-yielding companies in the Victory US Large Cap Volatility Weighted BRI Index that had positive earnings in each of the four most recent quarters. It follows the same screening process as the large-cap core fund to eliminate companies not deemed biblically responsible.

Both indexes are reconstituted in April and October, and are adjusted so that no sector exceeds 25 percent of the index. Both ETFs have an expense ratio of 0.52 percent, and they began trading on Wednesday.

Faith-based ETFs remain a very small niche. There are seven ETFs based on Christian values, including the two new Timothy Plan products. The Global X S&P 500 Catholic Values ETF (CATH) is the largest of the group with assets of $257 million. Its expense ratio is 0.29 percent. The fund launched three years ago, and in that time has performed in line with the S&P 500 Index, minus eight basis points.

Inspire Investing, an impact investing firm in Hollister, Calif., rolled out four faith-based ETFs in 2017: the Inspire 100 ETF (BIBL), a domestic large-cap fund; Inspire Small/Mid Cap Impact ETF (ISMD); Inspire Global Hope ETF (BLES), a large-cap international fund and Inspire Corporate Bond Impact ETF (IBD). This suite has aggregate assets of $391 million.

BIBL charges an expense ratio of 0.35 percent, and the other three funds charge 0.61 percent.

The Timothy Plan is no stranger to the faith-based investing scene. The company rolled out its first mutual fund in 1994, and now has 13 mutual funds that hew to biblical principles.

And it has two additional ETFs in registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission—one focused on U.S. small-cap equities and the other on international equities. Both will track volatility weighted indexes from Victory Capital Management and will employ screens based on biblically responsible investing criteria.