New fund offers faith-consistent policies that aligns with the teachings of the Church
CCLA Investment Management, a specialist manager for charities, churches and local authorities, is launching a Catholic Investment Fund on 1st April. The fund will be open to charities including Church organisations, Catholic charities and independent schools.
It has been created in response to demand from investors to support sustainable development and adopt a faith-consistent investment policy that aligns with the teachings of the Church as well as activities that seek to deliver positive, sustainable change.
The fund’s investments will be overseen by the Faith-Consistent Investment Committee whose members will be appointed from Catholic religious orders, organisations and charities.
One of the founding members, Reverend Canon Christopher Thomas (Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales) said: “I am pleased to support CCLA’s Catholic Investment Fund. The teaching of Pope Francis through his encyclical letters Laudato Si’ and Fratelli Tutti clearly directs us to ensure that financial investment and our national and global economy must reflect care for the human person and care for our common home.
“As such, all financial decisions should have these two goals firmly in the mind of decision makers.
“By creating a fund that reflects Catholic social teaching and ensures that we look not only at disinvestment but delivering positive social and environmental change, CCLA will assist Catholic organisations to achieve their goals, which are not limited to financial return, but promoting and supporting the Common Good. I welcome this new initiative warmly.”
As a specialist in ethical investing with active ownership engagement programmes, CCLA is committed to driving positive change and already manages funds for a number of religious and faith-based organisations including Catholic dioceses, charities and schools intent on aligning investments with values.
Peter Hugh Smith, CCLA’s Chief Executive, said: “We were established to serve religious organisations, charities and local authorities and our guiding principles have always been founded in responsible investment. By aligning its investment selection with Catholic social teaching, the Catholic Investment Fund reflects our long history of generating collective action on issues related to social justice.
“We firmly believe that investment markets and the companies that are traded on them, can only be as healthy as the communities that support them. As we look to the future, we encourage the investment industry towards harnessing its influence to promote the Common Good.”
Active in protecting human dignity, well-being, and the environment, CCLA’s initiatives include mobilising the investment industry to address issues such as modern slavery, raising awareness of the importance of mental health in the workplace and taking a leadership role in spearheading the investment sector’s response to climate change.
• For more details see www.ccla.co.uk
Picture: Reverend Canon Christopher Thomas.
