Wellcome Trust Annual Report and Financial Statements 2015 Is © the Wellcome Trust and Is Licensed Under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 UK
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Financial year 2015 Annual Report and Financial Statements Contents Chair’s Statement 02 Vision and objects, mission, focus areas and 04 challenges Trustee’s Report Strategic Report 05 Financial Review 06 Review of Past and Future Activities 08 Review of Investment Activities 12 Risk Management 24 Structure and Governance 26 Remuneration Report 29 Social Responsibility 31 Independent Auditors 32 Audit Committee Report 33 Independent Auditors’ Report 35 Consolidated Statement of Financial Activities 42 Consolidated Balance Sheet 43 Statement of Financial Activities of the Trust 44 Balance Sheet of the Trust 45 Consolidated Cash Flow Statement 46 Notes to the Financial Statements 47 Reference and Administrative Details 88 Chair’s Statement I am delighted to introduce this priority areas. This extra focus Annual Report for the first time as becomes possible because of the Chair of the Wellcome Trust. I was a continued success of our investments. Governor for seven years before becoming Chair on 1 October 2015. It is a great privilege not only to lead Investments this extraordinary charity but also to be able to build on the achievements The investment portfolio added a of my predecessor, Sir William pleasing £1.1 billion (return of 6.1%) Castell, who was Chair for a decade. in the year to September 2015, despite Always a strong advocate of a difficult market backdrop. Building bioscience and its ability to transform on six prior years of positive human health, during his tenure he performance for the portfolio, this also pushed medical innovation, brings the cumulative return since the science education, public engagement onset of the financial crisis in with science and greater involvement September 2008 to 92%, equating to with industry. We thank him and wish over £10 billion. The continued him well in his new task of chairing success of the investment portfolio the Foundation for FutureLondon. has enabled us to step up our charitable commitments to record Henry Wellcome’s will of 1936 levels and built a strong foundation charges us to “advance human for our ambition to commit up to health”. That remains our focus, but £5 billion over the next five years. the opportunities and routes for doing Extra focus becomes possible so would be unrecognisable to him. As global public equity markets because of the continued success Every day we learn more from science struggled in the run up to a likely of our investments. about how the body works. interest rate rise in the US, the Knowledge is built and discoveries principal source of returns was the The investment portfolio added a made, many of which are dramatic private assets in the portfolio. The pleasing £1.1 billion (return of and exciting. Opportunities for new efforts of the investment team over 6.1%) in the year to September treatments, for new drugs, for better recent years to concentrate on the very 2015, despite a difficult market diagnoses and for preventative action best partners and assets have paid off backdrop. emerge. And Wellcome has the funds as our illiquid investments produced a to support the best researchers, mainly large premium to public markets. Whether in biomedical science, in the UK, but also elsewhere in the However, this was not just a story of translational research, the world, who are dedicated to pursuing paper valuations being marked up - humanities and social sciences or those ideas which have the potential cash flows from the private equity and engaging the public with science, to change lives. Most will be venture capital assets (comprising we support great ideas to scientists; researchers in the 24% of the total portfolio) were, by improve health and transform humanities, the social sciences, ethics, themselves, sufficient to cover the lives for the better. education and other areas will also charitable and operational expenditure contribute to our task. during the year. We have, as well as funds, high The shift towards direct ownership of ambitions to push ourselves and assets continued, with one notable others to achieve even more. We have acquisition this year being Premier recently published our new strategic Marinas, the UK’s largest marina approach. That confirms our company with 5,000 berths spread philosophy, and describes our across 8 sites on the South Coast of determination to advance ideas, to England. The team continues to look seize opportunities and to drive for opportunities to use the reform, all to improve health. In Wellcome’s unique perspective to addition to our established and invest in assets that do not fit easily successful support of researchers, into the portfolios of many other infrastructure and equipment, we investors with a shorter term focus. intend to focus on a number of 02 | Wellcome Trust Annual Report 2015ty registered in England and Wales, no. 210183 Chair’s Statement (continued) One of the most important trends neglected diseases that It was a controversial issue because affecting all markets during the past disproportionately affect the world’s the techniques would be used during year has been the strength of the US poorest people. This was cruelly in vitro fertilisation for mothers at risk Dollar. The 12% trade weighted illustrated by the Ebola virus, which is of having a baby with mitochondrial appreciation during the year was one believed to have killed more than disease. In order to remove the risk, of the largest 12 month moves for the 11,000 people over the last two years. the mother’s mitochondria would be world’s reserve currency. The There are many lessons to be learned replaced with healthy mitochondria portfolio was well placed with 63% of from the global health community’s from a donor. This means that the net exposure to US Dollar and US failure to act with speed. Wellcome baby, in addition to its parents’ Dollar-linked assets. joined with others to fund clinical nuclear DNA, would have a tiny trials of drugs and vaccines, as well as amount of mitochondrial DNA from a As monetary policy begins to be studies of how best to conduct such third person (less than 1 per cent). tightened, we should expect volatility research during an epidemic. In to rise from multi-year lows in many August 2015, interim results from a Wellcome arranged extensive briefing markets. However, as long-term trial in Guinea showed that an for members of both houses and I was investors, we are able to disregard experimental Ebola vaccine appeared delighted when both voted near-term fluctuations in market to be 100 per cent effective at overwhelmingly in favour of the values and focus on assets that preventing the disease. A successful necessary legislative change, which generate cash flows over more vaccine will be vitally important in came into effect in October. Families meaningful time periods. It is the controlling future outbreaks. at risk from these devastating diseases robustness of these cash flows that may now seek mitochondrial donation gives confidence in our ability to We also intend to focus on scientific to have healthy children. continue to support our mission. leadership in low- and middle-income countries, science education, Finally, the path from discovery to improving diversity, addressing the clinical success can be long and Priorities and Challenges path from science to health, and unpredictable. One of the strengths of understanding how our environment the Wellcome Trust is the breadth of I wrote above that Wellcome will influences our long-term health. This our activities, which allows us to focus on selected strategic priorities. list is not definitive. We have the support thousands of people around The first is drug-resistant infections. funds and the flexibility not just to the world pursuing ideas they In 2013, the Chief Medical Officer, focus but to respond flexibly when we passionately believe will change the Dame Sally Davies, sounded the spot chances to “advance health”. world. alarm. We risk losing antibiotics and therefore being unable to defeat Whether in biomedical science, infections. Wellcome linked up with Successes translational research, the humanities the government to fund and house a and social sciences or engaging the review of the problem led by Jim You can read more about our public with science, we support great O’Neill who, earlier this year, joined achievements and plans in the Review ideas to improve health and transform the government as Lord O’Neill of of Activities on page 8. A highlight lives for the better. Gatley. The review’s first report set for me was in February as Parliament out the scale of the problem – 10 prepared to vote on new techniques million extra deaths a year by 2050 – for preventing mitochondrial diseases. and subsequent reports have The techniques were developed after recommended specific steps, several years of research funded by including a targeted fund to support Wellcome, much of it done at what is research and an overhaul of the global now the Wellcome Trust Centre for antibiotics and rapid diagnostics Mitochondrial Research in Newcastle. pipeline over the next 10 years. Scientists and clinicians there took Baroness Manningham-Buller active roles in a long process of Chair of the Wellcome Trust Another research focus is vaccines. scientific reviews, public Vaccines have the power to protect consultations and ethical debates to 14 December 2015 millions dying from infectious demonstrate the evidence and the diseases. There are significant public support for the new techniques. challenges in developing new vaccines, however, especially for