Biggest investment in Church's history, with focus on support for churches in lowest income communities and safeguarding.

The following is the transcript of a talk given at the Solaris Executive Leadership Academy by Alan Smith, First Church Estates Commissioner, The Church Commissioners for England, on 28 May 2025.

John Worth is being appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Church Commissioners for England, responsible for managing one of the nation’s leading endowment funds, with a 320-year legacy.

John Ball, CEO of the Church of England Pensions Board, has been appointed to the board of the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association’s (PLSA) Policy Board.

The Church of England Pensions Board ('the Board’) has published its 2024 Annual Review, highlighting the progress made in growing its pension funds and offering greater choice and support to members as it approaches its’ 100th anniversary in 2026.

The £3.4 billion Church of England Pensions Board highlights risk of exposure to international supply chains from minerals from the conflict area.

This opinion piece by Alan Smith, the Church of England's First Church Estates Commissioner, was originally published in the Daily Telegraph on 14 January, 2025.    

The Church of England Pensions Board’s Laura Hillis, Director of Climate and Environment, has been elected to the board of the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC).

A global coalition of investors representing approximately USD 2.5 trillion in assets under management is urging governments to take ambitious policy and regulatory action to halt and reverse global biodiversity loss. 

The Church Commissioners for England have announced their support for an activist investor campaign targeting ExxonMobil.