Church Pension Group Beats Benchmarks | Chief Investment Officer

The Church Pension Group (CPG) of the Episcopal Church reported that its investment portfolio increased 1.5% to $13.5 billion for the fiscal year ending March 31, from $13.3 billion the previous year. Despite the modest gain for the year, the Church reported that the fund has outperformed both its investment goals and benchmark performance over the past three, five, and 10 years.

The Church reported that the portfolio returned 8.7%, 7.0%, and 10.2% over the past three, five, and 10 years, respectively. This is compared with its investment targets of 6.7%, 6.0%, and 6.3% over the same time periods, and the benchmark performance of 7.9%, 7.0%, and 9.5%, respectively.

The asset allocation of the investment portfolio is 28.6% in global equities, 26.4% in global bonds, 17.1% in private equity, 15.8% in specialized strategies, 9.2% in real estate, 2.7% in private specialty strategies, and 0.2% in cash.

The CPG also said it has approximately $1 billion either invested in or committed to socially responsible investments, including a recent $40 million investment in the New Energy Capital Infrastructure Credit Fund II, which supports the development and operation of clean energy projects, including solar, wind, energy efficiency, and water in North America.

Never miss a story — sign up for CIO newsletters to stay up-to-date on the latest institutional investment industry news. 

According to the CPG’s annual report, a significant portion of the fund’s assets are invested in alternative assets, as it has open investment commitments of $2.7 billion to limited partnerships, which include interests in real estate, private equity, and other alternative investments. The group said it expects this amount to be funded during future years. During April, the fund invested an additional $81 million in and made $75 million of new commitments to limited partnerships.

The report also showed that Chief Executive Officer Mary Katherine Wold and Chief Investment Officer Roger A. Sayler received total cash compensation of approximately $1.65 million and $1.3 million, respectively, for the year.

Tags: Church Pension Group, Pension, Returns