Ior, the super dividend of the Vatican Bank for Pope Leo XIV: 13.8 million check (and « Catholic » funds beat the competition)

The Vatican Bank detaches a dividend of 13.8 million to Pope Leo XIV. THE’Institute for religion works (IOR) proposed to the Cardinal Commission (which approved) the distribution of a coupon of almost 14 million to the profit on the profit of 32.8 million recorded in the last year.

What the IOR does

The data emerges from the 2024 budget just published by IOR,. The institute, in the past in the center of dark scandals and plots, has been restored under Pope Francis and Today he devoted himself to the « ordinary » activity of Banca on behalf of the Holy See, of the religious orders, the parishes, the clergy and the Vatican employees. The IOR is in fact the only institution of the Holy See authorized to provide financial services and, based on the new legal framework, is intended to become the safe of all the Vatican assets.

The numbers of the Institute

Today Ior has over 100 employees and 12 thousand customers, all belonging to the clergy. The growth of 7% of its net profit is the result of the increase in the « margin of interest, the commission margin and the intermediation margin, together with careful cost control », underlines a note. The collection of the Institute stood at 5.7 billion Euro and comes from deposits, current accounts and, above all, asset management.

The investment principles

In fact, Ior manages about 3.2 billion euros on behalf of customers which are invested for the great part in bonds. The IOR strategy is then led by the principles of the social doctrine of the Church And the Institute invests only in companies that respect these principles: Healthcare of human life (not companies involved in abortions and contraceptives), respect for human life (no weapons), environmental protection, addictions (no gambling, usury, alcohol and tobacco), to which are added the principles of the United Nations Global Compact.

The Ior is moreover convinced that « mixing faith and ethics with the investment criteria » does not compromise the returns and, on the contrary, ensures better in the long run, allowing the selection of companies more resistant in the phases of crisis such as pandemic and today the war of duties. As proof of this, the Institute brings the fact that 79% of its « Catholic » asset management lines exceeded in 2024 the performance of the reference index and obtained better results than the comparable funds.