Who manages charities’ money?
Howard Lake | 15 June 2003 | News
Which investment managers handle the lion’s share of top charities’ investments? Which auditors have most clients among the top 500 charities? Which law firms dominate the charity sector? New research from Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) details who manages charities’ money.
Investment companies Deutsche Asset Management and Merrill Lynch manage the majority of the UK’s top charities’ investments, according to new research
from Charities Aid Foundation (CAF).
The research, entitled “Who manages the money?”, presents detailed figures on
the use of financial auditors and investment managers, including their comparative market share and fees, by the top 500 fundraising charities and the top 500 grantmaking trusts. Based on figures for 2001 – 02, the
research also outlines the use of solicitors and their client numbers.
Ninety six investment managers handle over £31 billion on behalf of both the
largest trusts and fundraisers. Merrill Lynch Investment Managers was top of the table with 12% of the client market and managing over one third of the total value of charity investments. However, with just 2% of sector clients, Deutsche Asset Management secured 9% of the market value, a highly valuable portfolio with an average charity client fund of £206 million.
Comparing the use of auditors between fundraising charities and grantmaking
trusts, Deloitte & Touche emerges as the first choice for the top 500 fundraising charities, with the highest number of audits (23%) and total income audited (17%). For the top 500 grantmaking trusts, however,
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP headed the table with 19% of audits and 31% of the total income audited. Interestingly, the research showed that the average fee per audit was £11,168 for grantmakers compared with £26,223 for fundraisers.
Based on combined responses from both grantmaking trusts and fundraising charities, the research shows that a small number of law firms dominate the top charity market. Bates, Wells & Braithwaite are a clear front runner with 15% of the total surveyed, followed by Farrer & Co with
10%, Withers LLP and Bircham DysonBell with 8% and Nabarro Nathanson with 7%.
“Who manages the money?” forms part of Charity Trends 24th edition, the most
comprehensive analysis of the resources and expenditure of the UK’s voluntary sector. To be published later this month, Charity Trends is available at the pre-publication price of £129.00 for the book or £179.00
for the CD Rom. Copies can be ordered from CaritasData.
Advertisement
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.