Equity Trustees Charitable Foundation Investment objectives and maximising returns

Each year, the Equity Trustees Charitable Foundation (ECF) distributes more than $6m of charitable giving to for-purpose organisations.

Our investment philosophy is to preserve and grow the real value of capital over the long term while providing clients with the income they need.

As a leading philanthropic funder of the for-purpose sector, together with our core responsibilities as a trustee, we have constant consideration of the best interests of the community, now and into the future.

WHAT ARE WE TRYING TO ACHIEVE?

To create a high level of income that grows over time to fund distributions to your chosen charities.  For the Equity Trustees Charitable Foundation portfolio, this means an investment objective to achieve a total return (capital growth plus income) of 4.5% above CPI over a rolling ten-year period.

HOW DO WE DO THIS?

We are here to secure a better financial future for our charitable trusts and their beneficiaries.

The Equity Trustees Asset Management team acknowledge that the market is not always efficient and a disciplined approach over a long period of time can add significant value.  Our approach at Equity Trustees across all portfolios is to invest in quality companies at reasonable prices.

Quality can be measured through a combination of the following:

• Robust and sustainable cashflow generation 
• A superior return on equity than the market
• A strong balance sheet 
• Strong management and Board governance
• Excellent industry structure and market positioning 
• Growth in earnings.

We aim to access companies at reasonable prices as measured by a range of valuation methodologies such as earnings multiples, dividend yield and discounted cash flow valuations.

We have summarised this approach as ‘Quality at a Reasonable Price’ (QuARP):