The Wellcome Trust is a global charitable foundation dedicated to improving health by supporting bright minds in science, the humanities and social sciences, and public engagement.
Sir Henry Wellcome (1853-1936), was the founder of the The Wellcome Trust. Today, its annual spend on research increased from an average of £28 million in the 1980s to £650 million in 2007.
Total public equities £9,546m
Long/short hedge funds £1,073m
Cash £639m
Absolute return & buy-out £2,532m
Growth & venture £3,579m
Property & infrastructure £2,011m
The Trust’s £18.0 billion investment portfolio provides the income for its funding. In 2014 Trust’s spend on medical and scientific research was £674 million based on its investment income. Long-termism is fundamental to the thinking of the Wellcome Trust. Directly held investments now account for 42% of its investment portfolio. A landmark transaction this year was the purchase of Farmcare from the Cooperative Group Ltd, which at a stroke made it the largest lowland arable farmer in the UK.
It holds £2 billion in property investments, of which is made up of residential interests of £1.2 billion, focused in super-prime London, such as the South Kensington estate. They hold 1,720 apartments in South Kensington, which is generating a “a nice little earner from the rent”.