Faith Guided Money Management

April 17, 2008 - PRLog -- New York, N.Y. --- The answers lie with God.  ONE: The Digital Dialog, a website that offers a side-by-side comparison of the Judaism, Christianity and Islam saw an increase in their normal site traffic of 78% last week during their online forum: Money, God & You.

The 4-hour live forum with financial experts Fawad Butt, Dena Shapiro Frenkel, and Hakeem J. Webb, representing the three major Western religions, offered visitors an opportunity to ask questions about faith-based personal finance.

Questions ran the gamut from advice for young couples getting married, socially responsible investing, and managing college expenses.  Though these were typical topics for a forum on financial planning, the answers all came with a twist as the experts answered questions in accordance with the principles of their respective faith.  

While the Jewish, Christian and Muslim faiths are all distinctive, when it comes to finance all three share the basic fundamentals of charity and making sensible, responsible financial decisions.

“This forum has been our most popular yet. Money is a very sensitive topic for people, combine that with religion and it’s even more taboo.  We were overwhelmed by the number of participants in the forum and the questions that they asked about their own faith and others.  This was the beginning of great dialog between the faiths,” stated Fran Kane, Co-Founder of ONE: The Digital Dialog.

For more information on ONE:  The Digital Dialog or to review the forum visit www.onedialog.com.

About Fawad Butt
Fawad Butt is the chief executive officer of Zeus Capital Advisers (ZCA), a company he founded to help create and manage businesses by offering Shariah-compliant alternatives to traditional investment vehicles. ZCA is currently developing the first national retail banking institution to focus on the needs of the more than seven million Muslims living in the United States. Prior to founding ZCA, Butt was chief operating officer at Chicago-based Sunrise Equities. There, he created strategic alliances with regional financial institutions including MB Financial, Cole Taylor Bank, Broadway Bank, and Mutual Bank to facilitate more than $100 million in transactions using Shariah-compliant financial products. Butt holds a postgraduate diploma in Islamic Finance from the Institute of Islamic Banking and Insurance, London.

About Dena Shapiro Frenkel, CRPC
Dena Shapiro Frenkel has been an integrated member of the Orthodox Jewish Community in Baltimore MD – one of the largest Orthodox communities in the United States – since 1984. Frenkel’s financial planning practice works with clients to  help them save for the future while at the same time increasing their awareness about the way in which they relate to money. Frenkel has published columns on financial planning topics for The Daily Record for nearly ten years. For the last two years, she has hosted a weekly radio show, Cents-Able Finance, broadcast out of Loyola College. Frenkel has written articles on money management for Binah Magazine, a publication geared toward the Orthodox Jewish Community. She was also featured in the Baltimore Jewish Times and on the Executive Women's Network radio show discussing the issue of finding a balance between one's faith and working as a financial planner.  

About Hakeem J. Webb, MSFS
As CEO and co-founder of National Christian Financial Advisors, Inc, and author of HELP! I TITHE BUT I'M STILL BROKE! , Hakeem J. Webb has more than fifteen years of wealth management experience. Webb has dedicated his talents to helping Christians create, preserve, and distribute wealth for their families by applying Biblical investment and financial principles to everyday money matters. His core philosophy regarding finances centers on excellence, faith, and integrity in order to deliver Bible-based investment consulting services and successful wealth management solutions. Webb holds a MS degree in Financial Services as well as several industry leading professional designations such as Certified Fund Specialist, Board Certified in Mutual Funds, Certified Senior Consultant, Certified Annuity Specialist, and Retirement Income Specialist. He is a much-sought-after conference speaker. Webb is a lifetime member of Full Gospel Businessmen International.

About ONE: The Digital Dialog
Created by K&K Publishing and Media, LLC, ONE: The Digital Dialog is a website that offers information from scriptures and commentaries – in the form of bi-weekly Dialogs – that address contemporary issues as seen from the perspectives of the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim faiths. ONE’s online community helps to promote religious understanding and learning; it teaches, rather than preaches, the wisdom of each faith, and explains the differences between the three while celebrating the similarities. For more information about ONE: The Digital Dialog, visit www.onedialog.com.

Media Contact:
Liane Worthington
Assistant Director of PR
The Wakeman Agency
212-500-5953 ext 118
lworthington@thewakemanagency.com