The Wellcome Trust has reported an 18.8% return on its investment portfolio over the last year, largely driven by a windfall from not being over exposed to sterling following Brexit.
The medial research foundation announced that for the year to September, its investment fund value increased from £18.3bn to £20.9bn.
It said returns in sterling were boosted by the sharp depreciation seen after the Brexit vote as it maintained the vast majority of its overseas exposure unhedged.
The fund also reported double-digit returns from every asset class except property, adding each major element of the portfolio – public equity, private equity, venture capital, hedge funds and property – had performed strongly over the longer term.
Additionally, in the eight years since the start of the global financial crisis in September 2008, the fund has returned over £13.5bn (129% cumulative, 10.9% annualised), recording positive returns in each of these years.
Over a 10-year period, the returns have been 138% cumulative (9.1% annualised), and over 20 years, 446% cumulative (8.9% annualised).
Since the inception of the investment portfolio in 1985, the total return has averaged 13.8% a year, the trust said.
Throughout the year to September, cash payments for its charitable mission were £749m. It added, depending on actual investment returns, it aims to commit at least £5bn to its mission over the next five years.
Wellcome Trust chairman Eliza Manningham-Buller said: “I am pleased to report that, once again, our investments have done well, building on past investment decisions, and despite a turbulent market. Our charitable expenditure is now over 50% more a year than it was five years ago in 2011 and more than double that of a decade ago.”
The Trust also said it had moved away from having a sole chief investment officer (CIO) and promoted Nick Moakes and Peter Pereira Gray to managing partners, alongside Danny Truell, who is now a managing partner in the investment team having previously been the CIO.
Truell said: “The portfolio has again performed well in a difficult environment for many investors. The decision to reduce home country bias and to diversify assets and geographical exposure has borne fruit. Although future investment returns are unlikely to match recent experience, we remain confident that the portfolio should generate sufficient cash flows to insulate the trust from potentially more difficult conditions.”
