SHETLAND Charitable Trust made a gain of over £159 million on its investments in the nine months through to the end of December, its latest accounts reveal.
It means that the closing reserves at 31 December was £467.8 million.
Shetland Charitable Trust headquarters at Lerwick’s North Road. Photo: Shetland NewsA report to trustees last week said that the return on the external investments over the nine-month period was 53.6 per cent.
Over the final quarter of 2020, equity markets continued their strong recovery, with US markets said to be “close to an all-time high”.
“The nine-month period has seen extraordinary growth, however the true economic impact of the Covid-19 crisis is yet to be seen,” the report added.
“There remains great uncertainty both economically and socially in the short term.”
The trust’s financial plan for 2020-25 assumes a medium term return of 6.5 per cent per annum.
In the nine months to the end of December a total of £8.3 million was spent on charitable purposes.
This included a £500,000 donation to the MRI scanner appeal alongside the regular core funding to organisations and charities.
A new funding stream for projects aiming to tackle inequality and social exclusion also oversaw expenditure of around £530,000.
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