Financial services for dioceses and parishes

Dioceses and parishes can consult with the financial unit of the Church of Sweden at the national level to receive assistance and advice on financial matters.

Church account

Such consultation may regard designing an investment policy or interest rates on the church account.  The Church account is the Church of Sweden’s joint group account. The group account is necessary for transferring church fees as well as handling other inflows of money in accordance with the provisions of the Church Order.

The greatest portion of the money coming into the account consists of the membership fees that are paid in each month and salaries that are paid out to dioceses and parishes for daily operations.

Assets are managed internally as investments in fixed-income securities and amount to over SEK 4 billion. The Church account makes it possible for the dioceses and parishes to increase the returns on their asset as compared to placing the money in a bank account.

Ethos funds

To make it safe and simple for parishes and dioceses to manage their financial assets three funds have been created that adhere to the Church of Sweden's financial policy. They are the Ethos Swedish Equity Fund, Ethos Fixed-income Fund and Ethos Global Equity Fund.

The Ethos funds are based on the Church of Sweden’s financial policy.  They have low fees and are marketed primarily to dioceses and parishes. At the end of 2019, various units within the Church of Sweden, including the national level, had invested almost SEK 6 billion in the Ethos Funds.