Faith-Based ETF Beats S&P 500: What Options Traders Should Know

A Faith-Based ETF That's Beating the Market

When most investors think about outperforming the S&P 500, they picture aggressive growth funds, leveraged strategies, or high-conviction sector bets. Rarely does a biblically responsible ETF enter the conversation. Yet that's exactly what Inspire Investing has delivered with the Inspire 500 ETF (NYSE: PTL).

On the occasion of its 2nd anniversary, Inspire Investing — the world's largest provider of Christian ETFs as of December 31, 2025 — confirmed that PTL has outperformed the S&P 500 index since its launch. The fund carries a low 0.09% expense ratio, making it one of the most cost-competitive faith-based funds on the market and a direct challenger to mainstream index products like VOO and IVV.

What Is the Inspire 500 ETF (PTL)?

PTL is a large-cap U.S. equity ETF built around Inspire's proprietary biblically responsible screening criteria. The fund excludes companies involved in activities considered contrary to Christian values — such as abortion services, pornography, or certain social causes — while seeking to invest in businesses that score positively on faith-aligned metrics.

Despite its values-based filter, the portfolio is constructed to track a broad basket of large-cap U.S. stocks, giving it a profile that closely resembles a traditional S&P 500 index fund in terms of sector exposure and market capitalization. Key characteristics include:

• Expense ratio: 0.09% — competitive with the lowest-cost index ETFs available
• Universe: Large-cap U.S. equities screened for biblical alignment
• Strategy: Designed as a core equity holding, not a tactical or thematic satellite position
• Performance: Outperformed the S&P 500 index over the two years since launch

Why This Performance Matters Beyond Faith Investing

The broader significance here isn't theological — it's structural. PTL's outperformance suggests that excluding certain large-cap stocks doesn't necessarily hurt returns, and may, in some market environments, actually help. The companies screened out under biblical criteria have, at times, been in sectors or subsectors that underperformed the broader market.

This is consistent with a growing body of evidence around ESG and values-based screening: when applied rigorously at the large-cap level, exclusionary filters can inadvertently concentrate a portfolio in higher-quality or more resilient businesses. Whether that dynamic continues is uncertain, but the two-year track record is a meaningful data point.

For investors who treat ETF flows and performance as a signal of where capital is rotating, PTL's growing credibility adds another large-cap basket worth monitoring — particularly as faith-based investing attracts more assets from a demographic that has historically been underserved by Wall Street.

What This Means for Options Traders

Here's where it gets interesting for the options community. PTL's portfolio is composed of large-cap U.S. stocks — many of which are the same household names that dominate the S&P 500. Companies that pass PTL's biblical screen tend to be established, financially stable businesses, which makes them ideal candidates for longer-dated options strategies.

When a values-based fund like PTL outperforms over a sustained period, it often means the underlying holdings are demonstrating consistent fundamental strength — exactly the type of stocks where deep out-of-the-money LEAPS calls can offer asymmetric upside at low cost. A $0.03 or $0.05 call on a large-cap stock that's quietly outperforming doesn't attract headlines, but it can deliver significant returns if the trend continues.

Traders looking to identify these kinds of setups across PTL's holdings — or across the broader large-cap universe — can use the StrikeEdge scanner to surface deep OTM LEAPS calls priced between $0.01 and $0.08 on qualifying stocks, helping pinpoint low-cost, high-leverage entry points before they move.

• Look at PTL's top holdings for stocks showing quiet relative strength
• Consider 12–18 month LEAPS calls on large-caps with low implied volatility
• Size positions conservatively — deep OTM options are high-risk, high-reward instruments
• Monitor ETF flows into faith-based and ESG funds as a capital rotation signal

The PTL story is a reminder that outperformance can come from unexpected places. For options traders, the lesson is simple: follow the performance data, not just the narrative, and use the right tools to find the opportunities hiding in plain sight.