The Otago Community Trust has put the global financial crisis well and truly behind it in the past financial year, earning more than $30 million on its investments. Dan Hutchinson takes a look at what this means for the Dunedin community.
Millions of dollars of extra donations will pour into Dunedin and Otago communities during the next year now the Otago Community Trust is finally able to loosen its belt a notch.
Chief executive Barbara Bridger said the trust's investment portfolio was now worth nearly $270 million, more than 13% higher than last year when it was just under $238 million.
She said the trust was still in recovery mode following the global financial crisis, but it was hoped close to $7 million would be given away in the year to March 31, 2016 - the most since 2009.
In the two years to March 31, 2009, the trust's investment portfolio dropped by more than $35 million to sit at $160 million. This was because of poor returns on investments and a large one-off donation of $7 million to Forsyth Barr Stadium.
It bounced back strongly the following year as investors flocked to the relative safety of equity markets, but the trust has been trying to rebuild a buffer to guard against any future financial crisis.
Ms Bridger said the trust aimed to keep its investments above the inflation-adjusted figure of its original capital injection - $131 million from the sale of its shares in Trust Bank New Zealand in 1994 and 1996.
The money is managed by five fund managers.
''It is an interesting fine line to be treading because if you give away too much, you are disadvantaging future generations and if you don't give away enough you are disadvantaging current generations so you are always trying to make sure of that.''
Last month alone, the trust gave away more than $1.2 million, including a $300,000 donation to the Otago Therapeutic Pool Trust and $100,000 towards the restoration of St Patrick's Basilica in South Dunedin.
The trust is run by four staff, who sort through hundreds of applications for funding each year, helping organisations meet the criteria before they are approved or declined by 11 board members.
''We don't see ourselves as a major funder of any projects. We tend to give up to 20% of a project cost if it fits with our criteria.''
She said the board liked to make sure a project was viable and likely to raise enough funds to be completed before allocating funds to it.
