The Wellcome Trust caught the news this week. Its claims to fame this year include:
- It is the world’s second biggest charity (behind Bill & Melinda Gates).
- It has donated over £1bn last year.
- Its boss, Danny Truell, is the UK’s highest earner in the charity sector. His pay rose £1m to £3m last year on the back of excellent five year investment returns.
Continued outstanding performance
I first studied the Wellcome Trust in 2012. At that point it had about £14bn under management, and about 20 investment professionals.
The Trust has just posted strong investment returns of 19pc, takings its assets up £3.5bn to £20bn. Managed by 25 people. I’d say its boss is earning his pay.
Last year’s excellent results were largely because the Trust made an strategic decision about a year ago to downweight its sterling exposure. Apparently normally it wants at least 25pc UK exposure, but sometime pre-referendum it decided to waive that requirement. Its assessment was that the Brexit risks were asymmetric, with much greater downside than upside. This was a very similar perspective to my own call in January this year, which has served me very well too. I’d love to know how exactly they implemented the shifts involved as it isn’t easy to do without trading costs.
The fund has compounded over 15% since 1985. This is astonishing performance, of a Buffett-beating level. Over time the Trust has consistently outperformed the market, without running extra risk.
A Wellcome Trust 10 point scorecard
My assessment of the Trust highlights 10 characteristics it follows. Many of them I share, but not all. These ten points are as follows (apologies if you’re reading this on a smartphone!): Continue reading “Wellcome inspiration: a 10 point checklist”
FIRE v London 