The emerging world of cannabis investment has been given a green light from an unlikely source: the Church of England. The investment arm of the CofE will relax a self-imposed ban and consider investment into medical marijuana, a reversal of its previously held policy of excluding all ventures that profit from cannabis.
The Church Commissioners for England, which oversees the church’s £12.6bn investment portfolios, has previously had an investment exclusion on cannabis, and has not yet invested in companies specialising in the sector, said Edward Mason, head of responsible investment at the Church Commissioners.
“We make a distinction between recreational cannabis and medicinal cannabis,” he said. “We are content with it being used for proper medicinal purposes.” This shift comes at a time when many large investment funds are taking a hard line on so-called “sin stocks,” or companies operating in areas subject to legal uncertainties. Last week Norway’s largest pension fund divested from companies that derive more than 5 per cent of their sales from alcohol or gambling.
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