The Church Pension Fund (CPF) works with third-party asset managers to make investments that, collectively, are designed to generate sufficient returns to pay benefits and related expenses for decades to come. Our outside managers seek opportunities across a variety of asset classes including public and private equity, fixed income, real estate, hedge funds, and specialty strategies.

$17 billion

The Church Pension Fund investment portfolio assets ²

As of March 31, 2023, the value of CPF’s portfolio was $17 billion, compared to $18.4 billion the prior fiscal year. Challenges to the financial markets in the first three fiscal quarters of 2022 put pressure on the portfolio. Nevertheless, we consider our financial condition to be strong.

Over the past 10 years, CPF generated an annualized return of 8.4%, exceeding our investment goal of 7.1% and the market benchmark of 6.0%. We use the investment goal as a performance reference point for periods of 10 years or longer. Over shorter periods, we utilize market benchmarks.

CPF has been able to deliver strong returns over time because we have a well-diversified portfolio, a long-term orientation, and a team of investment professionals focused on CPF’s purpose and vision. The team has experience with different market environments and takes a disciplined, rigorous approach to investing rooted in time-tested principles.

To generate required rates of returns, some market risk is necessary. The investment team has worked closely with the CPF Board to establish investment guidelines designed to achieve the desired expected return without unnecessary risk for the portfolio. We remain vigilant about recognizing and managing risks and are poised to maintain the financial strength of CPF to meet our obligations for decades to come.

New Chief Investment Officer

Michael Hood was named Executive Vice President, Chief Investment Officer, and Managing Director in July 2023 following the retirement of Roger Sayler, who served in the role for nine years. Learn more.

Considering Environmental, Social, and Governance Issues

Christopher Rowe, Managing Director, Investments, describes how analyzing investments through an environmental, social, and governance (ESG) lens aligns with both our values and our fiduciary responsibilities.

CPF’s expertise is in selecting investment managers, not choosing individual investments. In picking managers, we evaluate their decision-making process: What information do they use and how do they analyze it?

We believe ESG issues can materially affect investment opportunity and risk. We also recognize that, depending on the investment, the impact of ESG considerations may vary.

There is an overlap between ESG issues that investors consider and Church values. Many managers for CPF's various portfolios incorporate ESG issues into their analysis and invest trillions of dollars in assets for CPF and other clients. By focusing on ESG issues, these managers significantly spotlight economic values that are also Church values. Because of that overlap, there has been criticism of ESG that begins with a flawed assumption that all ESG issues are “non-financial.” While some are not financial, some certainly are. Investors who ignore ESG issues—whether strictly financial or not—might miss factors that could be important to their investment decision.

We expect managers to effectively analyze all material investment criteria, including those related to ESG. By hiring investment managers with a superior approach to evaluating all significant opportunities and risks, we generate long-term returns for CPF beneficiaries and support Church values.

Navigating the Numbers

Investments

$17 billion

The Church Pension Fund investment portfolio assets 2

The Church Pension Fund investment portfolio assets ²