Investments

An in-house team of investment professionals manage Wellcome's portfolio. Their aim is to maximise returns over the long term to ensure that Wellcome continues to have sustainable resources for our charitable activities.

Our investment portfolio is a resource that makes our charitable work possible, rather than a way in which we seek to achieve our mission. Over the past decade, the portfolio has grown at an annual rate of 12%, which has enabled us to nearly double the amount we spend on our mission of improving health for everyone by helping great ideas to thrive.

The original source of our funding was a bequest left by Sir Henry Wellcome on his death in 1936.

For the next 50 years, we were the sole owner of Wellcome Plc, the pharmaceutical company founded by Sir Henry. Dividends from the company funded the charitable grants we made for research. In 1986, we decided to diversify by listing and selling shares in the company, which was subsequently bought by the pharmaceutical company Glaxo in 1995.

Since then, Wellcome’s funding has come from a wide range of financial assets around the world:

• publicly listed stocks and shares
• private equity
• venture capital
• property
• hedge funds and other investments.

Wellcome generally does not receive donations or government grants.

We control risk in the portfolio primarily by diversification of assets, and by careful management of the cash flow for our charitable activities so that we are not forced to sell good assets at the wrong time.

The majority of Wellcome’s assets are managed directly by our in-house investments team as well as third-party fund managers – a model that optimises returns over the long term.

We have clear internal governance with delegated authority supported and overseen by our Investment Committee.

• Full details are available in our investment policy [PDF 159KB]
• List of significant directly held public equity holdings

We take stewardship of our assets very seriously and consider many factors before we invest. As well as a sound and sustainable business model, we must be confident that the companies and funds we invest in take their environmental, social and governance responsibilities seriously. We engage closely with them to ensure they are doing this, and we have previously sold positions where we felt a company was not meeting our expectations.

Read more about our approach to responsible investment and stewardship. 

We believe we have a responsibility and an opportunity as a major investor to accelerate decarbonisation in the businesses we invest in. Find out about our plan to drive down the carbon emissions of the businesses we invest in and bring our investment portfolio to net zero by 2050 at the latest. 

The team manages our endowment and oversees all investments.

Managing partners

• Nick Moakes, Chief Investment Officer
• Peter Pereira Gray, Chief Executive Officer, Investment Division

Principals

• Robert Coke
• Elaina Elzinga
• Geoffrey Love
• Lisha Patel
• Fabian Thehos.

The Board of Governors determines the broad structure of our asset management arrangements. The Investment Committee is a sub-committee of the Board of Governors with oversight and advisory responsibilities.

• Richard Gillingwater (Chair)
• Tracy Blackwell
• Stefan Dunatov
• Dr Jeremy Farrar
• Michael Ferguson
• Julia Gillard
• Martin Halusa
• Cressida Hogg
• Nick Moakes
• Peter Pereira Gray
• Girish Reddy
• Paul Schreier.