The Church Commissioners, the charity investment arm of the Church of England, has today announced a return on investments of 17.1 per cent in 2016, meaning that the fund is worth £7.9bn.
Its annual accounts show that the total return on investments in 2016 was 17.1 per cent, up on the previous year’s return of 8.2 percent.
This figure is almost double the average return over the last 30 years, which has been 9.6 per cent per annum, and exceeds its investment return target of 7.5 per cent.
The fund’s biggest returns were from its global equities portfolio, 32.9 per cent, private credit strategies, 33.1 per cent, private equity, 26.1 per cent, and timberland, 24.3 per cent.
Sir Andreas Whittam Smith, first church estates commissioner, said “consistency” had been a “guiding principle” for the fund.
He said: “Our historic performance over a 30-year period shows annual growth of 9.6 per cent per annum, despite periods of turbulence in the financial markets and our own portfolio, an average of 6 per cent per annum ahead of inflation.”
See in Charity Finance
The Church Commissioners' charitable expenditure rose by 5.6 per cent to £230.7m, accounting for 15 per cent of its overall mission and ministry costs.
Andrew Brown, chief executive of the Church Commissioners, said: “While this is only around 15 per cent of the Church’s overall income – most funding comes from the extraordinary generosity of parishioners – we are delighted to be able to play our part.
“Whether funding city centre churches, community projects in low income areas or research programmes to examine how the church can grow, these returns make a tangible difference to the lives of thousands across the country.”
Responsible investment
In 2016 the Commissioners made their first qualifying impact investments including a $40m (£30.8m) commitment to Equilibrium Capital Management’s Waste Water Opportunity Fund, which develops anaerobic digestion facilities.
But one of the Commissioners’ most valuable equity holdings is in Google’s parent company Alphabet Inc, for which the charity has previously been criticised due to the corporation’s links to tax avoidance.
In the year to 31 December 2016, 10 of the charity’s investment staff received long-term performance-related pay totalling just over £1m.
The charity’s highest paid member of staff, director of investments Tom Joy, earned £259,000, £4,000 more than in 2015, plus £202,000 in performance related pay, £6,000 less than the previous year.
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