Publications
Cazenove Charities is focused on supporting those people involved in making investment decisions within charities and endowments. Through talking to trustees and understanding their needs, we identify the issues facing decision-makers today and seek to publish useful, relevant and thought-provoking material.
Net zero investments: a guide for universities
Universities have a unique opportunity to address the climate crisis through research, innovation and education – but they can also use their investment assets and endowments. Whilst the majority of universities surveyed have set a net zero target, only a small proportion currently include their investments in that target.
Cazenove Charities has produced a report, in partnership with British Universities Finance Directors Group (BUFDG), outlining the five steps when setting a net zero strategy.
Read the report here:
Climate Confident: Charity investments and net zero
Many UK charities already recognise the relevance of climate change to their charitable objectives, but only a small proportion have set a net zero target that also applies to their investments.
Climate Confident: Charity investments and net zero, written by Nick Perks and Emily Petersen (Cazenove Capital), explores the current context for charity investments and climate change. The report includes actionable steps on setting a net zero investment strategy and example investment policies to help drive transformative action.
It draws on the findings from over 130 charity investor survey responses and focus groups, and outlines four case studies from organisations that have already set a net zero strategy, demonstrating how climate can be integrated into investment approaches.
Read the report here:
Sustainability and Impact Annual Report
This report describes the active fund management approach for the Sustainable Multi-Asset Fund during 2022, and evaluates the positive impact the fund has made through both capital allocation and our active engagement.
Read the report here:
Investment Policy Guide
Following the Charity Commission's updated investment guidelines in 2012, Kate Rogers, in her role as the Chair of the Charity Investors' Group prepared a guidance report to assist charities in the preparation of their Investment Policy Statement. This was accompanied by a series of workshop-based events hosted by Schroders.
For Good And Not For Keeps
The report written by Richard Jenkins and Kate Rogers, published by ACF and sponsored by Schroders, explores the questions asked by trustees of charities with long-term missions who rely on investment assets to fund their activities.
Intentional Investing
Intentional Investing, published by ACF and sponsored by Cazenove Charities looks at whether and how charity investors might reflect their organisation’s aims, values, or wider social goals into their investment practice.
Written by Richard Jenkins and Kate Rogers, the report examines current responsible and ethical investment practice, drawing on the results of the biggest survey of its kind into the behaviours of charity investors.
On the basis that only the trustee board can decide what is right for a charity, the report identifies the key questions trustees might consider to discover what is best in their context.
This report also investigates:
- the impact of such responsible and ethical investment policies on long term investment returns; and
- the principles, practicalities and pitfalls of reflecting your charity's values and aims in your investments.
Full report:
Cazenove Capital's Intentional Investing Guide 2020
NCVO Good Trustee Guide
Ideal as an introduction for new board members or as a refresher for long-serving trustees, The Good Trustee Guide, sponsored by Cazenove Charities provides comprehensive information about a trustee's role, and guidance on developing an effective trustee board.
Sponsored by Cazenove Charities, the updated and revised edition covers current legal and regulatory frameworks and includes an extensive range of best practice guidance from voluntary sector support agencies and regulators.
The full version of the report is available at a cost of £30 for non-members and £21 for members via the NCVO website or a summarised version can be downloaded free of charge, below:
Summary report:
Full report:
Value for money
A practical guide and some thoughts on a framework for assessing the fees charged by your investment manager. Kate Rogers, Head of Policy, and Giles Neville, Head of Charities, and Amy Browne, Portfolio Manager have run a series of working groups with a collection of charity representatives from all backgrounds addressing this topic.
The fees charged to charities by their investment managers are in the spotlight. However, there is no common approach or methodology for reporting or looking at them. Fees are often bundled or estimated, leading to a difference between those stated and those actually paid. In an era of low interest rates and low global growth, precious basis points of positive returns can be eroded through fees. The introduction of European financial regulation, MiFID II, requires companies providing investment management services to be more transparent than ever about the fees they charge. But even then, Trustees will need to ensure they are getting the best value for money out of their investment managers.
Kate Rogers, Head of Policy, and Giles Neville, Head of Charities at Cazenove Capital, have run a series of working groups with a collection of charity representatives from all backgrounds addressing this topic. Amy Browne, Portfolio Manager at Cazenove Charities, summarises their findings and sets out some practical insights to guide your way through the process of assessing value for money.
The report will will also cover the following:
- What are you paying your investment managers to do?
- What are you trying to achieve with your charity’s assets?
- How much would you be prepared to pay for a target return of inflation +4%?
- If better off net of fees, does the outright fee level matter?
- What are the measurable and unmeasurable outcomes you expect to see?
- Is it worth paying for active investment management?
Making Investment Committees Work
Effective boards and committees are crucial in helping charities achieve their mission and aims. This briefing, produced by Association of Chairs and sponsored by Cazenove Charities, provides a concise and practical summary, which looks to help charity Chairs get the most out of their committees.
The authors produced a summary specifically for investment committees that may be helpful for our clients.
Kate Rogers, Head of Policy, Cazenove Charities has also prepared an Example Terms of Reference document with reference to the recommendations of the Association of Chairs briefing.
Time and Money
‘Time and Money’ is the third in our series of reports into the governance and practice of charity investing.
It examines the benefits of Foundations and Endowments taking a long term approach; but also considers the barriers that might get in the way.
Packed full of insights from over 250 research participants, we hope that it will provoke board conversations and support trustees to be ambitious in their investing and spending, and resilient in times of stress.
Is your charity prepared for the next market crisis
This paper examines past market crises and the psychology underlying “irrational” investor behaviour. It offers practical ways in which trustees can prepare for future crises and navigate successfully through them. Mindful of the unique financial circumstances of each charity, it covers a range of scenarios that we hope will be relevant to every reader.