Pax History
Pax World was founded in 1971 by two men with a well-defined mission. Luther Tyson and Jack Corbett, who had worked on peace, housing and employment issues for the United Methodist Church, wanted to make it possible for people to invest in keeping with their values. At the same time, they wanted to challenge corporations to establish and live up to specific standards of social and environmental responsibility.
Their vehicle was the Pax World Fund. Launched on August 10, 1971 with $101,000 in assets, it was the first broadly diversified, publicly available mutual fund to use social as well as financial criteria in the investment decision-making process.
Little could Tyson and Corbett have imagined that their Fund, now called the Pax World Balanced Fund, would help give birth to an industry that in 2007, according to the Social Investment Forum, represents well over $2.7 trillion in investor assets. (Source: “Report on Socially Responsible Investing Trends in the United States,” published by the Social Investment Forum.)
Through the years, Pax World has expanded the number of funds we offer, grown our assets and client base (we now serve more than 100,000 investors and their advisors as of 6/30/08) and served as an active advocate for shareholder rights.