Praise the Lord. The investment arm of the country’s largest Anglican diocese has edged back into the black after a $160 million loss of faith in 2008.
But although a few extra prayers might have worked over the last 12 months, it appears the Sydney diocese’s Endowment Fund is still in financial purgatory. After all, the fund managed by the Glebe Administration Board suffered a decline in the value of its total assets over the year from $310 million to $290 million. Its total assets stood at $634 million two years ago.
But the 60,000-strong flock of the Archbishop of Sydney, Peter Jensen, will be relieved to here that parish belt-tightening and a resurgent Australian sharemarket have helped the fund to post a profit of $11 million for the year to December 31.