Our history

The 1972 General Synod of the Anglican Church approved a Church Canon to establish The New Zealand Anglican Church Pension Board (“Board”). It also approved the establishment of The New Zealand Anglican Church Pension Fund (“Pension Fund”). Finally it gave its approval for the submission to Parliament of an Act to empower trustees at their discretion to transfer the assets of diocesan pension funds to the Board for amalgamation into the Pension Fund. This Act passed into law on 20 October 1972.

The first Board was appointed in April 1972, with the Pension Fund commencing on 1 January 1973.

Back in 1972, the establishment of a new Provincial Pension Fund for the Anglican clergy was a trail blazing innovation. Today the Board, now known as Anglican Financial Care, has developed into a multi-faceted and professional organisation that provides a multitude of financial services to the Anglican Church and other Christian denominations, including the administration of three separate retirement savings schemes (Pension Fund,  The Retire Fund and Christian KiwiSaver Scheme). The original Pension Fund of $3m has now grown to such an extent that overall funds under management (including for the other funds) exceeds $200m in value.

In 1974, a Welfare Fund was established which to this day still provides relief from financial hardship for clergy in areas including funeral, education, medical, and housing needs. In 1992, the Basden Fund was established to provide pre-tertiary and tertiary education costs for dependent children of clergy or clergy widows / widowers in the Diocese of Polynesia. In 1993, the Health Fund was established to assist retired clergy, clergy widows / widowers and dependent children with the costs of medical expenses. In 1989, the Board assumed management of the Widows and Orphans Endowment which finances the funds above which today distribute over $700,000 in benefits each year.

In 1992, the Supplementary Support Fund was first introduced. It is a contributory Sickness, Accident or Death Fund. Its purpose is to provide continuing income to a member who, due to sickness or accident, is unable to continue work, and a benefit on the death of a member. Today there are over 250 members with stipends and salaries totalling around $14m.

Ever since its inception, the Board has provided mortgage finance for clergy, clergy widows / widowers, clergy pensioners and other Christians. There has never been a mortgage write-off and currently loans exceed $20m in value.

Anglican Financial Care also provides ancillary services to the wider Church. These include administration services for the Anglican Insurance Board and the Baptist Union Superannuation Scheme, as well as a role coordinating the Inter-Church Bureau (“ICB”). The ICB is an inter-denominational body tasked with monitoring the impact of legislation on the wider Church’s affairs.

We envisage a thriving future in which our organisation will be even more deeply and diversely engaged with its members to meet an increasingly complex set of clergy financial needs.