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DEVELOPING OUR
ORGANISATION
Using our resources efficiently and effectively.
TAKING STOCK
A rapid response minimised the
impact of the global financial crisis
on the Wellcome Trust’s asset base.
With financial markets looking vulnerable,
in 2008 the Trust moved swiftly to protect
the value of its investment portfolio. It
expanded its equity sale programme
from £3 billion to a total of over £4.5bn
and disposed of certain other assets,
generating record levels of cash holdings.
While this provided considerable
protection from the year’s turmoil, the
depth of the financial crisis led to a net
fall in the Trust’s investment asset base
to £13.1bn at 30 September 2008, a
drop of 10.8 per cent over the year.
This compares favourably with the falls
in global and UK equities of 16 per
cent and 21 per cent, respectively.
Ten-year returns for equities have
reached their lowest levels since the
US War of Independence in the 1770s.
With equities now offering relatively
good value, the Trust has begun to
reinvest, while maintaining sufficient
reserves of cash to support charitable
activities without having to dispose
of assets at distressed prices.
Overall, the Trust’s financial position
remains strong. Since the flotation of
Wellcome plc in October 1985, returns
have averaged 14.9 per cent a year,
considerably exceeding both the global
equity index and the Trust’s targeted
return (6 per cent real returns).
A HIGHER PROFILE
The Wellcome Trust has been
a keen participant in global
health discussions.
Although UK-based, the Wellcome Trust
has an international agenda. It funds
considerable research in developing
countries and has played a pivotal role
in numerous international consortia.
Human health is an international issue.
This year, the Trust has been involved
in multilateral discussions to develop a
road map for avian influenza research,
spanning vaccine and drug development,
surveillance and epidemiology. Fred
Hayden, seconded from the University
of Virginia, has been appointed to
coordinate this work and is spending one
week a month at the Trust’s offices.
The Trust is also in discussion with the
WHO about a coordinated distribution
policy for vaccines and drugs, should an
avian influenza pandemic break out.
ACTIVE ENGAGEMENT
More efforts are being made to
engage with the scientific community.
While response-mode funding remains
core to the Trust’s work, more proactive
strategies are also being developed.
Central to this approach has been
the recruitment of senior scientific
figures. Recent years have seen the
arrival of Professor Richard Morris,
a leading neuroscientist from the
University of Edinburgh, and Dr Alan
Schafer, a geneticist and former head
of GlaxoSmithKline’s Technology
Development Department.
With other senior scientific staff, Pat
Goodwin and Jimmy Whitworth, they
have set out to build stronger links with
the research community and other key
groups. The aim has been to gather input
on the possible ways in which the Trust
can act catalytically to drive forward
fields of research and application of new
knowledge into practical benefits.
The Trust has been active in organising
Frontiers Meetings, bringing together
key individuals to discuss emerging and
important areas, including, in 2007/08,
autism research and the ethics of
genome-wide analyses.
With a diverse portfolio of funding
schemes, including response-mode
grants, Strategic Awards and special
initiative funding, the Trust is well placed
to take these new ideas forward.