One might expect the chief executive of the Church of England’s investment manager to be a pious, worthy do-gooder, caring more about the well-being of society than return on investments. Either that or a hard-nosed capitalist, laughing to scorn the gentler concerns of the charities whose money he runs.

James Bevan, chief investment officer of CCLA, the church’s investment manager, fits neither image. Since kicking off his career with post-graduate research into applied economics and asset allocation at Cambridge University, he has been deeply interested in the theory of investment and markets, but is also open to concepts of sustainability and ethics within investment.