Finance

The main objective of the Perth College Foundation is to help build the long-term financial security of the School, ensuring that Perth College will be able to offer first-class educational facilities, a quality learning environment and maintain a strong sense of community that continues to deliver exceptional opportunities for all our students.

Since its inception, the Foundation has been focused on growing a significant capital base and achieving steady investment returns to support the long-term financial security of Perth College.

Overall, 2022 was a very challenging year for investment portfolios as central banks, including the Reserve Bank of Australia, commenced a rapid tightening cycle which resulted in most asset classes experiencing negative returns. The Foundation’s capital was not completely immune from this; however, the active positioning of the Foundation’s portfolio’s asset allocation, which included no initial exposure to Government Bonds and a preference for floating over fixed rate Corporate Credit, resulted in strong performance in these supposed defensive sectors. Additionally, the Foundation’s Australian Equities exposure produced a positive return versus a negative benchmark. Overall, there was some recovery in the fourth quarter, which resulted in only a small reduction in the Foundations net asset position from $20.5 million in 2021 to $20.2 million for the 2022 calendar year.

Despite the challenges presented in 2022 by investment markets, the Foundation remains dedicated to its target of $30 million by 2028. The current volatile investment environment means donations will continue to play a crucial role in ensuring that the Foundation is able to meet this target. We, therefore, remain reliant on the continuing generosity of the extended School community to meet our commitment to helping secure the long-term financial security of Perth College. Transparent stewardship of funds and communicating the impact that donated funds are facilitating, remains a key responsibility and focus of both the Foundation and School.

In addition to the long-term target of increasing the Foundation’s capital base, the Foundation continues to respond to shorter-term priorities, such as growing the Scholarship Fund base and, therefore, the number of scholarships that the Foundation is able to offer to benefit students.

The Foundation’s Investment Committee continues to work closely with the appointed Investment Manager, JBWere, who is guided in its investment decisions by a Board approved Investment Policy which is regularly reviewed.