In 2011, Bishop Neil Alexander (then Bishop of Atlanta and now Dean of Sewanee School of Theology) and David Pitts, Chairman and CEO of Pitts Management, founded CIG with the objective of providing to the endowments of the Church the same investment benefits and opportunities accessible to large foundations and endowments. David Pitts had served as the Chair of the Church Pension Group’s Board of Trustees and the goal for CIG was to offer to the Church’s endowments the same opportunities and economies of scale that Church Pension Group offers to its clergy for their pensions.

During 2011 and 2012, CIG received the support of fourteen dioceses (the Founding Dioceses) and formed a Board of Directors. CIG began managing assets in May of 2013 for the Diocese of Atlanta. In October 2014, CIG began managing a significant portion of the endowment of the Diocese of New York.  In 2016, CIG launched both its ESG All Assets fund (CIG I LLC) and its ESG Fossil Fuel Free All Assets fund (CIG II LLC).

In 2017, Quintin Primo, III, an original CIG Board Member, assumed the role of Chairman. Quintin is the Chairman and CEO of Capri Investment Group, a Chicago-based real estate investment advisor. He is a past Trustee of the Church Pension Group. His grandfather was an Episcopal priest and his father, Bishop Quintin E. Primo, Jr., was Suffragan Bishop of Chicago as well as the Interim Bishop of Delaware. Bishop Primo founded the Union of Black Episcopalians and the Primo Center, which serves homeless women and children in Chicago. Quintin is now the Chairman of the Primo Center.

The Church Investment Group is a member of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) and a signatory of the UN Principles for Responsible Investment.