15/12/2009 Author: Kapila Gohel

Charity to reinvest redeemed FoHF assets

The Geological Society of London is considering its investment options, after redeeming assets from the two funds of hedge funds (FoHFs) managers of its £4m ($6.49m) charity fund.

The society, of which Charles Darwin was once secretary, decided to scrap its hedge funds investments in June due to poor performance, as HFMWeek reported last month.

The charity will receive back £600,000 ($974,000) from the FoHF redemptions. The funds will be reinvested in other assets classes in three lots of £200,000 ($324,000).

The society is currently reviewing a list of proposed stocks in which to invest the returns realised from the sale of hedge funds, according to the minutes of the investment panel’s meeting last month.

A spokesperson told HFMWeek last month that hedge funds were “losing money” and the society tends to steer towards investments that will generate returns for the charity. “We have to be careful how we use our beneficiaries’ resources,” they said.

The investment portfolio is managed by UBS Wealth Management, which was asked to propose new asset allocations.
The investment panel will make the following changes to its portfolio: reduce the range on fixed interest from 65% to 55%, increase the range on UK equity from 30% to 35%, retain private equity at 5% and an allocation to property at 5%.