The Waterbury Democrat., 1942-06-22

New York, N. Y. June 22-Report- ing assets of $35, ,650, 900 and current pension benefits of $1, ,390, ,O00 a year, the Twenty-Fourth Annual Report of The Church Pension Fund of the Protestant Episcopal Church, just issued, stresses the difficulties now teing experienced by charitable in- sti;utions in respect to interest earnings on their invested assets. Tn Supplementary Report, issued in conjunction with the regular An- nual Report, Bishop Cameron J. Davis, President of the Fund, an- nounces that the Trustees, at re- cent Special Meeting on May 26th, adopted more cautious program of extra benefits beyond those orig inally promised, pointing out that the Fund is now paying total bene- fits which exceed the original plan by more than $345, ,00O year. Tn special letter to all of the clergy of the Protestant Episcopal Church, Bishop Davis says: Tt was because of fortunate conditions in the finan- cial world and careful management that the Trustees were able to go far beyond the basic promises of the Fund in the extra benefits which they have paid to beneficiaries. To- day investment conditions have changed, and the low rate of inter- est paid by high grade investments makes 1t necessary to reduce some- what the program of extra benefits for future beneficiaries in order that the Trustees may fulfill their fund.- amental responsibility to safeguard the basic obligations of the Fund and to preserve Its excellent finan- ciaI condition" He makes clear, however, that no existing pension is to be reduced and that the recent acion taken by the Trustees refers only to future grants. The Fund now has about 25O0 beneficiaries and during the year 1941 1t granted new pensions in the total amount of $122,208 a year.
 J. P. Morgan, reporting as Treas- urer of The Church Pension Fund in which office he has served con- tinuously for over twenty-five years, gives a detailed list of the invest ments and points out, in footnote on the Balance sheet, that the mar ket value of the invested assets ex- ceeds their book value by over a mil- lion dollars. Commenting upon the excellent investment position of the Fund, the Report states that "the Trustees do not feel justified in sac- rificinr the present fligh-grade qual- ity of the Funds investment port folio in an effort to increase the investment income at the risk of irI1- pairing security of principal, par. ticularly under present conditions" Of the Funds total investments, over 27 per cent are In United States Government securities.
 Tn his report as Executive Vice. President, Bradford B. Locke l'oints out that the assets of the Fund ir- creased by approximately $600,00O during the course of the past year but that its liabilities, which are calculated on full actuarial reserve basis, increased by approximately the same amount, leaving a Surplus of $2,5O4,217 at the end of l94l. He stresses the point, however, that this Surplus is calculated upon the assumption that the actuarial reserve liabilities will earn 3h per cent ill- terest whereas the Fund has been unable to meet this assumption In each of the last four years, the average interest earned on the re- serve liabilities in 1941 having been BOT per cent. He states, however, that in other respects there have been compensating factors and that he current interest earnings show some signs of improvement.
 The report, in summarizing the results of the first quarter century of its existence, points out that the assets have grown from an initial reserve of &S,750,000 in 2Sl7 to $35,- 65O,OO0 at the end of l04l and that