Church of England Searching for New CIO | Chief Investment Officer

The Church Commissioners of the Church of England announced on Wednesday that it is seeking a new CIO to manage the church’s 10-billion-pound ($12.61 billion) portfolio.

The church’s current CIO, Tom Joy joined the organization in 2009. He is planning to step down in April for an unannounced opportunity.

The Westminster-based professional will lead a team of 50 in the church’s investment office and will be in charge of investment strategy for the fund’s diversified portfolio. The CIO will work with “dual objectives of delivering strong returns so that the Church Commissioners can maximize its sustainable long-term funding support to the Church of England and be at the forefront of responsible investment globally,” according to the job posting.

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The fund manages 40% of its assets internally with the rest allocated to managers globally.

The job posting lists some of the following requirements for the position:

Minimum of 10-15 years of experience investing in public and/or private markets
Demonstrable strong investment track record
In sympathy with the work of the Church of England
Deep network of industry contacts to assist in thought leadership and investment idea sourcing
A philosophical alignment with the Church Commissioners’ approach to managing multi-asset portfolios

“The successful applicant will be a proven leader whilst also a low-ego team player able to nurture a strong values-based Investments team culture and adept in working with a complex network of internal and external relationships, trusted to act as a public-facing voice of the Church Commissioners,” the job posting states.

The church’s portfolio has returned an annualized 10.2% over the past 10 years, according to the fund’s 2022 annual report. The fund allocates 28.9% of its portfolio to public equities, 13% to absolute return assets, 8.2% to private equity, 7.6% to cash and cash-like assets, 7.4% to defensive equities, 5.8% to venture capital, 5.2% to credit strategies, 4.9% to timberland, and single digit allocations to several other asset classes.

The church’s CIO will join a fund that has a unique structure. According to the job posting, “The Church Commissioners’ for England is a statutory endowed charity managing over £10 billion of historic assets for the Church of England and an administrative body with regulatory and quasi-judicial duties. It has representatives of Church and State on its governing body and is answerable to Parliament and the General Synod of the Church of England. Financial returns are used to support the mission and ministry of the Church of England.”