# Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis

Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis is an Endowment / Foundation based in Saint Paul, United States.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Endowment / Foundation
- **Headquarters:** Saint Paul, United States
- **Region:** North America
- **Address:** 777 Forest Street, Saint Paul, MN 55106
- **Founded:** 1850
- **Assets under management:** Undisclosed
- **Website:** archspm.org
- **LinkedIn:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/archdiocese-of-saint-paul-and-minneapolis

## Regulatory record

- **Reports private funds:** No

## About

The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis was erected as a diocese in 1850, predating Minnesota's statehood by eight years and anchoring the region’s Catholic institutional presence ever since. Archbishop Bernard Hebda leads the 12-county organization, which spans 217 parishes and a network of schools. Unlike a family office built from a concentrated liquidity event, the Archdiocese's funding base aggregates from the weekly offerings, major gifts, and legacy bequests of its congregation, creating a decentralized and perpetual inflow that shapes its investment posture. The Archdiocese's investable assets are managed in partnership with the Catholic Community Foundation of Minnesota, which serves as the institution's primary investment and endowment vehicle. The portfolio utilizes fund commitments and direct holdings covering real assets, private credit, and traditional market exposures. Its real-estate footprint on the balance sheet includes the Archdiocesan Catholic Center at 777 Forest Street in Saint Paul, the Cathedral of Saint Paul, and the Basilica of Saint Mary in Minneapolis. The organization operates with a lean treasury office; CFO Thomas Mertens oversees financial operations alongside Archbishop Hebda. No dedicated investment office is publicized. Philanthropic adjacencies include the Aim Higher Foundation, which funds K-8 scholarships across Archdiocesan schools, and the Cathedral Heritage Foundation, preserving historic properties. These structures sit legally separate from the endowment corpus. The Archdiocese's structural differentiator is its hybrid financial architecture: it is a canonical religious entity that collects contributions from a living congregation while delegating portfolio construction to an affiliated foundation. The Catholic Community Foundation of Minnesota accepts gifts, manages endowment allocations, and distributes grants, giving the Archdiocese a dual-track system — one track for immediate pastoral operations, another for long-horizon asset stewardship. That arrangement insulates permanent capital from short-term operational shocks and allows the Archdiocese to maintain multi-decade commitments even through periods of public financial strain.

## Sectors

- Real Estate
- Private Credit
- Hedge Funds
- Secondaries & Special Situations

## People

- Bernard Hebda — Archbishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis
- Thomas Mertens — Chief Financial Officer

## Questions

### Who runs investment decisions for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis?

The Archdiocese delegates primary investment management to the Catholic Community Foundation of Minnesota, which constructs and oversees the endowment portfolio. Archbishop Bernard Hebda and CFO Thomas Mertens hold ultimate fiduciary authority on the Archdiocesan side, but the Foundation's investment committee handles manager selection and asset allocation.

### How does the Archdiocese source capital for its endowment?

Capital inflows come from parishioner contributions, major gifts, and bequests across 217 parishes serving approximately 800,000 Catholics. The decentralized nature of this funding base, spread across 12 Minnesota counties, means the Archdiocese does not rely on a single donor or family but rather on sustained congregational giving and legacy philanthropy.

### Is the endowment managed internally or outsourced?

The Archdiocese does not maintain a standalone internal investment office. The Catholic Community Foundation of Minnesota acts as the outsourced investment partner, handling fund commitments, direct asset management, and grant-making for the Archdiocese's permanent capital pools, including the Long-Term Fund and the Braun Fund.

### What asset classes does the Archdiocese allocate to?

Based on observable holdings and the Foundation's disclosed approach, the endowment allocates across real assets — including commercial properties like the Archdiocesan Catholic Center and historic churches — private credit, hedge fund commitments, and traditional public-market exposures. The portfolio blends direct real-estate ownership with external fund investments.

### How has the Archdiocese's balance sheet responded to past financial stress, including the 2015 bankruptcy?

The Archdiocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in 2015 to address clergy-abuse claims, ultimately reaching a $210 million settlement that involved asset sales and insurance proceeds. The permanent endowment was not fully liquidated; rather, non-core real estate and insurance recoveries primarily funded the settlement, allowing the Catholic Community Foundation-managed pools to remain mission-invested.

## Related profiles

- [Arcadia Investment Management](https://altss.com/profile/arcadia-investment-management)
- [Arena Wealth](https://altss.com/profile/arena-wealth)

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Source record modified: 2026-08-11T02:43:31.692Z

Last verified: not supplied by this public snapshot.

## Sources and provenance

- Organization website as recorded: https://archspm.org/
Source links do not imply that every field was verified on the page modification date. See [Altss methodology](https://altss.com/methodology).

Canonical page: https://altss.com/profile/archdiocese-of-st-paul-and-minneapolis

Maintained by Altss — https://altss.com — methodology: https://altss.com/methodology
