Around £1billion of Methodist money is invested in stocks, shares, bonds and other schemes. This money comes from individual churches and circuits, as well as national funds. All the money is invested in line with ethical principles.
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The Central Finance Board of the Methodist Church (CFB)
Methodists have their own investment agency, the CFB. It is the job of the CFB to manage the funds and get good returns on their investments whilst making sure that the investments are in line with the moral and ethical teaching of the Church - such as not investing in companies that profit from alcohol, gambling, pornography or the arms trade.
From their base in the City of London, the CFB is a Christian witness in the investment community. By acting as shareholders of major companies, including some listed on the FTSE-100, they can influence decisions and vote in shareholder meetings. This provides Methodists with a powerful voice at the heart of economic life in one of the world's most important financial centres.
Recently the CFB have been working with the Carbon Disclosure Project and are a founding partner of the Transition Pathway Initiative that assesses companies expected future performance on carbon emissions. CFB and JACEI have also helped with a significant initiative to bring together mining executives and church leaders to visit mining sites and discuss sustainable mining.
Joint Advisory Committee on the Ethics of Investment (JACEI)
To make sure that the CFB are working to the highest ethical standards, the Methodist Conference has set up JACEI, which is made up of five people nominated by the CFB and five by the Methodist Council. The Revd Dr Stephen Wigley - Chair of the Wales District - is the Chair of JACEI.
You can read more about the work of JACEI in its annual report to the Methodist Conference. At Conference there is also an informal event where ethical investment can be discussed and leaflet is published that looks at some of the issues that JACEI has dealt with over the last year.
One of the most controversial and widely publicised recommendations that JACEI made was about Nestlé in 2006.
More information
2023 JACEI Leaflet - Better Banking for All
2022 JACEI Leaflet - Mining for our Future
2019 JACEI leaflet - Plastic waste
2018 JACEI leaflet - Modern slavery
2017 JACEI leaflet - Food, Nutrition and Well-being
2016 JACEI leaflet - Good Returns
2015 JACEI leaflet - Ecumenical Reflections on Mining
2014 JACEI leaflet - Fossil Fuels and the Future
2013 JACEI leaflet - Banking on the Banks
2010 JACEI Annual Report - Climate Change, The Challenge for Ethical Investment
Read the 2009 JACEI leaflet - Ethical Investment in a Digital Age
Read the 2009 JACEI Annual Report
Ethical Investment in Israel Palestine
Central Finance Board
9 Bonhill Street, London EC2A 4PE
020 7496 3630 invest@cfbmethodistchurch.org.uk
Contact the Joint Advisory Committee on the Ethics of Investment
The Revd Dr Stephen Wigley, JACEI Chair
Methodist Church House, 25 Marylebone Road, London NW1 5JR
020 7467 5245 jaceichair@methodistchurch.org.uk