Overview

Investment assets were worth £91.8bn, generated £3.4bn worth of income and cost £0.5bn to manage

Investment assets

• Investments are assets primarily in the form of equities, government securities, unit trusts and investment property. They provide an independent income source for voluntary organisations with assets to invest.

• The sector’s investment assets were collectively worth £91.8bn in 2015/16.

• This comprises 79% of the sector’s fixed assets and 76% of total assets.

Investment income

• The sector’s investments assets generated £3.4bn worth of income in 2015/16.

• Investment income represents around 7% of the sector’s total income of £47.8bn.

• 61% (£2.1bn) of the total investment income comes from returns on financial assets such as share dividends. Almost a third (30%, £1.0bn) comes from rents on investment property, and the remaining £0.3bn consists of interest on cash holdings.

Cost of managing investments

• In 2015/16, the sector spent £0.5bn on managing investments.

• This represents 8% of the money spent on generating funds and 15% of the income generated from investments.

By size

Larger charities have larger proportions of investment assets within their fixed assets

Investment assets

• The distribution of assets in the sector is uneven: large, major and super-major organisations comprise 3% of the total number of voluntary organisations but hold 90% of the sector’s investment assets.

• More than half of all fixed assets are investment assets, in all income bands. However, the larger the charity, the larger the share of investment assets: 86% of the fixed assets of super-major organisations are investment assets, compared to 62% for micro and small organisations.

Investment income

• Over 63% of voluntary organisations had some form of investment income in 2015/16.

• Investment income is the largest source of income for 15% of the sector. Investment income as a proportion of total income is higher for micro and small organisations (16%) than large organisations (10%) and major and super-major organisations (4%) although they are less likely to hold investment assets.

• This suggests that smaller organisations are more likely to rely on the assets they hold, while larger organisations benefit from a more diverse range of income sources.

Over time

Since 2011/12, investment assets have increased slowly, while the return on investment has stayed stable

Investment assets

• The voluntary sector, like other sectors, was affected by volatile asset prices following the financial crisis of 2008. The fall in the stock market together with a fall in property values dented the value of investment assets in 2008/09 with the sector’s investment assets falling by 26%.

• They have recovered slowly since then, and almost reached pre-crisis levels, with investments assets worth £91.8bn in 2015/16.

Investment income

• Following a drop in 2009/10 (£2.7bn) the sector’s investment income slowly increased and reached £3.4bn in 2015/16, the same level as in 2005/06.

• Despite fairly steady levels of investment income for the sector, investment income as a proportion of total income decreased from 10% in 2000/01 to 6% in 2009/10 (with a sharp decline in 2008/09). It has remained steady at around 7% since 2010/11.

Cost of managing investments

• In 2015/16, every £1 spent on investment management generated £6.79 in investment income, excluding capital gains in asset value.

• Except for a sudden and unusually high level of £12.60 in 2008/09, the return on money spent managing investments has remained between £6 and £8 since 2005/2006.

Get the data on assets, spending and income.