Does Catholic-Friendly Investing Lead to Earthly Rewards?

The fund's religious standards are overseen by the board, which is "loyal to the Magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church. Each member is familiar with its basic tenets and core teachings. They meet regularly to review the fund's moral standards and criteria."

Even though the name of Platte's fund is the Rising Dividend Fund, Platte said it's not so much about dividend yield in the traditional sense, rather more about growth.

"Dividend growth is an outward sign of inward quality at a company. Companies that put themselves on a 'dividend diet,' meaning they pay a dividend just because they feel they have to, are not doing what they should."

He also said he and his team avoid so-called "faux dividends," companies that raise their dividend by something like a penny to look good with analysts, but it's something that doesn't do much for the shareholders.

"We look for capital appreciation and dividends, as well as the price to value ratio and, of course, performance," he noted.

He particularly likes the industrial sector at the moment, especially those companies with a heavy international presence.

As far as his near-term outlook, he said he doesn't put much faith (said with a straight face) in predictions of a "fiscal cliff" and other dire warnings on the road ahead.

"Politicians will do something; they'll have to as a true crisis nears," he concluded. "I'm more interested in them keeping the preferential treatment of dividends in place, for obvious reasons, although they traditionally perform well in really any tax environment."