The NZ Anglican Church Pension Board has adopted a new bilingual trading name to highlight the religious group’s broader financial mandate.
As of last week, the religious body – which runs a number entities including the Christian KiwiSaver scheme – adopted the Anglican Financial Care/Te Maru Mihinare moniker.
In a release, board chair, The Very Reverend Lawrence Kimberley, said: “Te Maru Mihinare” means a place of shelter or safety in the Anglican Church. That meaning sits well with our organisation’s purpose and vision, which is to strive for our clergy’s financial peace of mind, an ever increasing challenge in today’s world.”
Originally set up to provide income for retired Anglican clergy and layworkers, the group now offers a range of financial services including mortgages, health grants, welfare assistance and investments – some of which are available to “the wider Christian community”, the statement says.
In total, the Anglican group has about $215 million in funds under management, of which almost $50 million comes via the KiwiSaver scheme (known as Koinonia until last April).
The Christian KiwiSaver is a restricted scheme but has a flexible membership definition that covers those employed in organisations “whose primary activities are Christian mission or ministry”; anyone professing a Christian faith; and, any “immediate family member or dependant of a person with Christian faith”.
Over the 12 months to March 31, the Christian KiwiSaver scheme grew membership by almost 4.5 per cent to reach 1,827 members. The scheme also recorded a stand-out performance for the annual period, buoyed in part by its timber assets that jumped almost 60 per cent in value during the year.
The ecumenical ethos of the overarching Anglican financial group also extends to providing administration services to other Christian investment funds such as the Baptist Union Superannuation Scheme, which recently changed consultants.
It is understood the almost $30 million Baptist scheme has appointed Melville Jessup Weaver as investment consultant, replacing incumbent Aon Hewitt.
The 271-member Baptist scheme invests entirely into various Nikko Asset Management NZ funds.
During the 12 months ending March 31, 2018, the Baptist board lost two long-time directors, Murray Austin and Daniel Palmer. Palmer and Austin were replaced by Winston Hema and Michael Reddell, respectively – the latter a former senior Reserve Bank of NZ official and also author of the ‘Croaking Cassandra’ economics blog.