Home Articles APS Foundation six-monthly performance report to 30 June 2021 shows 22.4% return for FY21
APS Foundation six-monthly performance report to 30 June 2021 shows 22.4% return for FY21
Giving through APS Foundation also sees a significant increase
- The APS Foundation released its performance report for the six months ended 30 June 2021, showing a return since the Foundation’s inception of 11.9% compound per annum and a 22.4% return for the 2021 financial year
- Giving through the APS Foundation also dramatically increased over the 2020 financial year from $8.6m to $13.7m or 11% of the opening total assets
Chris Cuffe, APS Chairman and Portfolio Manager of the APS Foundation, shared some of his thoughts about the performance of the Foundation, its overall investment thinking and the increase in gifting to charity by giving fund holders.
"I am delighted to see that in a year of significant community need with the tragic bushfires, floods and COVID-19 pandemic, APS Foundation giving fund holders gave $13.7m to charity, much more than the 4% minimum of net assets required."
Chris Cuffe
“The defining feature of the APS Foundation’s investment strategy is our genuine commitment to investing for the long-term. So, while I am pleased with the Foundation’s outstanding performance of 22.4% in the 2021 financial year, we need to be mindful that performance can go up and down in the short term. We like to look at returns over rolling seven-year periods because our giving fund holders are committed to giving to charity over many years into the future. Our job is to ensure that their charitable investment grows consistently over the long term so that they can continue to support the causes they care about.
I am delighted to see that in a year of significant community need with the tragic bushfires, floods and COVID-19 pandemic, APS Foundation giving fund holders gave $13.7m to charity, much more than the 4% minimum of net assets required. I suspect that this increase in giving is a combination of both the generosity of our giving fund holders and the excellent returns which allowed them to give more without seeing their balances diminish.
The Foundation’s commitment to long-term performance informs both the broad investments the Foundation holds and the fund managers with whom the Foundation chooses to work.
The Foundation is fortunate to avail of the services of a range of fund managers, most of whom offer their services pro bono. This saving keeps the cost of managing the Foundation’s investments down, which helps to maintain our low fees to giving fund holders. When looking for fund managers to support the Foundation, I also look for active managers who are not afraid of short-term volatility – again, looking at investing for superior long-term performance.
While the public ancillary fund market in Australia is still developing, we can predict that the sector will likely see solid growth when compared to more mature markets like the US. The APS Foundation is at the very top of the market now in terms of inflows, growing from $123m last year to $183.5m this year. I have high confidence that the Foundation will continue to enjoy strong growth, and then we’ll be investing with the wind in our sails.”