26.07.2013
The Most Rev Justin Welby’s threats to put pay day loan companies like Wonga out of business through supporting credit unions backfired today when it was revealed that the Church of England made investments (albeit small) in the very same businesses it was criticising.
The church needs to generate the best possible return for its £5.2bn pension fund but make investments that are in line with its moral and religious principles. As Welby says, the church “must live in the real world too”.
At the CDFA, this revealed to us how difficult even the Church of England finds it to define and implement an ethical investment policy. It also revealed how important it is that as a sector, Community Development Finance Institutions (CDFIs) do all we can to engage major investors, banks and politicians.
We feel strongly that the Church of England should be making investment decisions, such as capitalizing the proven and highly effective community finance sector that further its mission– rather than simply not contradicting it.
At the moment, the Church makes no investment in the community finance sector – a sector in dire need of capital to meet the £6.75bn annual gap in funding revealed by our RBS funded research earlier this year.
CDFIs have a business model that is specifically designed to deliver financial and social returns. They are well placed to offer the ‘win-win’ the Church is looking for in terms of financial returns with a clear conscience.
At the CDFA we would welcome the chance to work in partnership with the Church of England and gain access to just a fraction of the investment capital they have and our sector needs.