SAT - Allover - Chris Morphet
Tuesday 3 December 2024
 0.7°C   NW Light Breeze
Ocean Kinetics - The Engineering Experts
GR Direct - Winter Sale 2024

Community / Charitable trust reserves top £315m

Shetland Charitable Trust's headquarters in Lerwick.

SHETLAND Charitable Trust’s reserves at the end of March sat at over £315 million, new figures show.

The value of the trust rose by over £6 million over the 12 months to the end of March.

During the last financial year the trust also made a gain on its investments of nearly £11.2 million.

A report presented to trustees at a remote meeting on Thursday highlighted that equity markets in the 12-month period to March 2020 had been “volatile”.

Business manager Raymond Mainland told trustees that the investments had been performing well up until Covid-19 started having an impact in mid-February.

“Despite this volatility, in the first ten months of the year equities performed extremely well, particularly in the US,” his report said.

“From mid-February 2020, markets collapse because of the Covid-19 crisis. Equity markets around the world dropped by as much as 30 per cent.

“There was a gradual recovery up to the end of March, with this recovery counting through to April, May and June, again particularly in the US.”

The value of the trust’s externally managed investments at the end of March sat at £301.2 million. This was a rise from £282 million.

But they only had a return of 4.6 per cent, which is some way off 2018/19’s return of 11.5 per cent.

The trust’s financial plan assumes a medium-term return of 6.5 per cent.

Since the trust began in 1976 as the oil industry kicked off in the isles it has paid out over £320 million to local organisations with the aim of improving the quality of life for all people in Shetland.

Become a member of Shetland News

Shetland News is asking its many readers to consider paying for membership to get additional features and services: -

  • Remove non-local ads;
  • Bookmark posts to read later;
  • Exclusive curated weekly newsletter;
  • Hide membership messages;
  • Comments open for discussion.

If you appreciate what we do and feel strongly about impartial local journalism, then please become a member of Shetland News by either making a single payment, or setting up a monthly, quarterly or yearly subscription.

 
Advertisement 
Advertisement 
Advertisement 
Advertisement 
Advertisement 
Advertisement 

Newsletters

Subscribe to a selection of different newsletters from Shetland News, varying from breaking news delivered on the minute, to a weekly round-up of the opinion posts. All delivered straight to your inbox.

Daily Briefing Newsletter Weekly Highlights Newsletter Opinion Newsletter Life in Shetland Newsletter

JavaScript Required

We're sorry, but Shetland News isn't fully functional without JavaScript enabled.
Head over to the help page for instructions on how to enable JavaScript on your browser.

Your Privacy

We use cookies on our site to improve your experience.
By using our service, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy.

Browser is out-of-date

Shetland News isn't fully functional with this version of .
Head over to the help page for instructions on updating your browser for more security, improved speed and the best overall experience on this site.

Interested in Notifications?

Get notifications from Shetland News for important and breaking news.
You can unsubscribe at any time.

Have you considered becoming a member of Shetland News?

If you appreciate what we do and feel strongly about impartial local journalism, then please consider paying for membership and get the following features and services: -

  • Remove non-local ads;
  • Bookmark posts to read later;
  • Exclusive curated weekly newsletter;
  • Hide membership messages;
  • Comments open for discussion.