You may have seen the performance numbers when they came out in May, the FT headline was "Church of England fund becomes top world performer". That was on a 17.1% increase.
In late July Pensions & Investments couldn't help themselves with their AUM report "Assets up a heavenly 21% for Church of England".
So what's going on with an outfit we've poked fun at over the years?
From Institutional Investor May 25:
Asset managers are willing to consider esoteric investments as they increasingly seek new ways to diversify their portfolios.
The Church of England’s £7.9 billion ($10.24 billion) investment fund is looking at music royalties and direct venture capital deals for this year’s new asset allocations, according to its director of investments.Some of our previous posts on the fund—remember the great short-selling brouhaha of 2008?
Music royalties, which don’t neatly fit into private equity or private credit allocations, can produce “attractive” returns of eight percent to 10 percent, Tom Joy, the director of investments for the Church Commissioners for England, said in an interview.
Asset managers are willing to consider esoteric investments as they increasingly seek new ways to diversify their portfolios. The idea of music royalties as an asset class was first introduced in 1997 by musician David Bowie, who raised $55 million by issuing bonds backed by the income from 25 of his albums. Prudential Insurance Company of America purchased the portfolio, earning 7.9 percent a year until the bonds expiration in 2007 and the rights passed back to Bowie....MORE
Previously:
Stuyvesant Town Peter Cooper Village: "Church of England counts cost of New York property deal"
Church of England could lose [$35 Mil.] in StuyTown
Hedge funds win Church of England blessing (no new comments on 'Bank Robbing Traders')
Archbishop of Canterbury Tells Bankers to Repent
Short-Sellers `Clearly Bank Robbers,' Says Archbishop
Church of England accused of short-selling after its attack on 'bank robbing' traders
What would Jesus short?
From Ekklesia, Nov. 6, 2008:Church of England faces investment gloom
The Church of England is expected to be praying for a big interest rate cut this morning from the Bank of England, as it faces further gloom over its investments.
The Church Commissioners had £13m invested in Man Group at the end of last year, the largest listed hedge fund manager. However, this morning the company was down 30% in early trading after its profits slumped - potentially wiping £4 million off the value of the Church's investment, overnight.
