Property provided “welcome resilience” for the Church Commissioners as they announced a 9.3% fall in total returns in 2002.
Total assets fell £500m to £3.5bn. The property portfolio rose 5% in value from £1.06bn to £1.11bn. The commissioners said their investment portfolio’s performance was mitigated by its substantial property holdings. Property accounts for around a third of the portfolio.
They said UK pension fund returns (which have an average property weighting of 15%) fell by a comparative average of 13.9% over the same period.
First church estate commissioner Andreas Whittam Smith said the property valuations at the end of 2002 were higher than at the beginning of the year.
“Property yielded total annual returns of 14.8%, 17.4% and 14% respectively for commercial, rural and residential holdings,” said Whittam Smith.
Total returns for the commissioners’ UK equities over the same period fell 23.1%.
“This was partly as a result of an investment climate which increased the negative impact of the commissioners’ ethical investment policy,” said Whittam Smith.
The Church Commissioners’ fund is a closed fund, taking in no new money.
