Catholic Charity Conference 2024
1st May 2024, Church House, Westminster

This year’s theme is ‘The climate crisis, sustainable development, and ESG – the Catholic response’, and we are delighted to announce the programme of topics and speakers.

Join us as we discuss ethical horizons: navigating responsible charitable investment,
exploring faith-based investment and ‘Mensuram Bonam’ for Catholic investors, and sharing an update on the recent changes and impact of Laudate Deum.

Speakers include:

• Adam Halsey, Partner, Head of Charities, haysmacintyre
• Julian Blake, Partner, Stone King LLP
• Julie Moktadir, Partner, Stone King LLP
• Tim Rutherford, Partner, Charity & Social Enterprise, Stone King LLP
• Oli Henman, Global Coordinator, Action for Sustainable Development
• Paolo Camoletto, Chief Operating Officer and Financial Secretary, Roman Catholic Diocese of Westminster

Agenda:

10:15 – Registration and refreshments

10:45 – Welcome and prayer

11:00 – Tackling recent changes: Laudate Deum amendments, and measures to safeguard against fraud:
In the session led by Adam Halsey, Partner and Head of Charities at haysmacintyre, we will share an update on the recent changes of Laudate Deum, and how they might impact the Catholic Church.
Oli Henman, Global Coordinator Action for Sustainable Development, will take us through the principals to support Catholic organisations to ensure security and fraud measures in order to surpass/accommodate the ‘public benefit test’, amongst others. The session will be closed by Adam exploring other areas of relevance concerning accounting and compliance matters.

12:25 – Break 

12:45 – Ethical horizons: Navigating responsible charitable investment:
In this session, Julian will be examining the development of charity investment principles. He will reference relevant case law and speak about the ways in which charities can ensure their investments are as responsible as possible when it comes to ESG (environment and social governance), EDI (equity, diversity and inclusion) and sustainability.
Julie will focus particularly on modern slavery and the importance of carrying out due diligence on any and all suppliers, companies and organisations that charities invest in and associate with in any context. She will share useful tips on spotting the signs of modern slavery in practice and suggest actions that charities can take should they encounter any of them.

13:20 – Lunch and networking

14:35 – Navigating faith-based investment: Discussing ‘Mensuram Bonam’ for Catholic Investors:
Paolo Camoletto will chair this discussion with sponsoring investment managers, in which they will examine the intricacies of ‘Mensuram Bonam’, including the challenges and opportunities posed by this call for ethical and principled investment strategies.

15:35 – Closing remarks

15:45 – Networking and refreshments

16:20 – End of conference

We hope to see you at the conference.