Archbishop of Canterbury's war on Wonga takes an early blow as Church of England revealed as investor in company
That Archbishop of Canterbury, having declared war on Wonga by stating that he would like to compete the company “out of business” will be deflated this morning after it transpired that the Church holds a £1m investment in he payday loan specialist.
Reverand Justin Welby made the statement earlier, while clearly “unaware” that the Church of England’s £5bn pension fund was invested within one of Wonga’s biggest investors, the US venture capitalist Accel Partners.
The Guardian reports that the Palace has responded to the revelation over the "serious inconsistency" as the Church holds a policy of not investing in payday lenders.
"We will be asking the Assets Committee of the Church Commissioners to investigate how this has occurred and to review the holding in this pooled investment vehicle,” a spokesperson for the Church explained.
"We will also be requesting the Church Commissions to investigate whether there are any other inconsistencies as normally all investment policies are reviewed by the Ethical Investment Advisory Group."
Meanwhile, according to Sky News, Wonga has planned to release a reactionary adverting response to Welby’s comments, in which it will set out “ten commitments”