The Church Commissioners for England, which manages the Church of England’s endowment fund, delivered a 10.3% return in 2024, marking the sixteenth consecutive year of positive returns.

The returns outperformed the fund’s investment return objective (CPIH+4%) of 7.5% for the year, and took total assets under management to £11.1bn (€13.2bn) at the end of 2024.

Returns were boosted by the very strong environment for equity markets, with the Church Commissioners’ public equities portion of the portfolio delivering 15.6% returns over the year and absolute return and defensive equity allocations also posting double-digit returns.

The fund’s private markets and real asset portfolios contributed more modestly (gaining 7.1% and 3.8%, respectively). Private equity and venture capital were held back by some valuations continuing to adjust lower, while private credit fared better.

The overall real assets portfolio delivered a modest positive return of 3.8% during 2024, with returns  negatively impacted by weakness in areas like timberland and indirect property, although other areas such as commercial property, infrastructure and value-linked loans performed better, the endowment fund reported.

Commercial and value-linked loans investments performed best, producing returns of 34.0% and 15.6% respectively. The timberland and indirect portfolios saw negative returns of (12.8)% and (8.6)% respectively, although the Commissioners said long-term returns remained very strong for timberland at 10.2% average over 10 years.

Fixed income allocation up

In terms of asset allocation, the biggest change in weightings since last year has been the growth of the fixed income allocation, which the Church Commissioners have increased to close to 10% of the fund, funded mostly from defensive equity and absolute return investments. 

Last year represented the final full year of service of Gareth Mostyn as chief executive. During his five years in the role, the Commissioners’ strong investment returns led to a significant increase in funding to the wider Church of England. During the 2023-2025 triennium, funding rose by 30%, with £1.2bn distributed to the Church.

Between 2026 and 2028 the funding is set to increase by £430m above the previous triennium. Overall, the Church Commissioners and Archbishops’ Council have set indicative distributions of £4.6bn in support of the work of the Church over nine years, supporting a package of measures for clergy well-being and a focus on supporting parishes in the lowest income communities in the country, as well as other key priorities including safeguarding and redress.

Last month, John Worth was named as the new chief executive officer for the Commissioners; he takes on his new role in September. Poppy Allonby took over as chief investment officer last autumn, replacing Tom Joy.

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