History and objectives
Investments history
Between 1936 and 1986, the Wellcome Trust was the sole owner of the Wellcome Foundation, Henry Wellcome's drug company. In 1986, however, the Trust began floating shares in the Wellcome Foundation and used the proceeds to diversify its assets. By the end of September 2012, its endowment was approximately £14.5 billion.
Find out more about the history of our investments.
Investment goals
Our overall investment objective is to generate 4.5 per cent real return over the long term.
This is to provide for real increases in annual expenditure while preserving at least the Trust's capital base in real terms in order to balance the needs of both current and future beneficiaries.
We use this absolute return strategy because it aligns asset allocation with funding requirements and it provides a competitive framework in which to judge individual investments.
