The Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (Ciff) has reported an income rise of $33m (£22m) from $126m (£85m) in 2013 to $189m (£128m) in 2014.
Much of 2014’s additional income came from investment income, which at $184m (£124m), was a jump of $35m (£24m) from the previous year.
The Foundation's biggest donor pulled out last year. Philanthropist Chris Hohn withdrew his commitment in 2014 after divorcing the charity’s founder, Jamie Cooper-Hohn. Until that point, profits from Hohn’s hedge fund, the Children’s Investment Fund were routed to the charity to enable it to build up an endowment.
According to the charity’s 2014 annual report, the charity’s investment income for the year came largely “from dividends and interest received from the Group’s equity and fixed income investment portfolio”.
“The combined net investment return for the financial year ended 31 August 2014 was 19.2 per cent, reflecting a continuation of strong investment performance in recent years, with a cumulative performance of 161.3 per cent since April 2009, equivalent to 19.4 per cent per annum return,” the report said.
Since the Foundation’s inception more than ten years ago, it has committed over $500m (£338m) to further its mission, including a sum of $380m (£257m) handed out as grants.
Last year Ciff upped its funding of charitable activities from $124m (£84m) in 2013 to $154m (£104m) in 2014, while grant spending rose from $106m (£72m) in 2013 to $134m (£90m) in 2014.
The majority of the Foundation’s grant payments were made to charities specialising in climate change – up from $13m (£9m) in 2013 to $35m (£24m) in 2014.
“Climate change poses the single biggest threat to the future health and livelihood of today’s children,” the Foundation’s 2014 annual report said. “Ciff supports the urgent global transition to a low carbon economy because providing a climate-safe future will deliver multiple benefits today such as cleaner air, improved health and better jobs.
“During the financial year 2014, Ciff has continued to support exciting policy developments in our focus geographies at national and city level. We embarked on new programmes with multi-year commitments totalling $84m (£57m).”
Climate change projects funded by Ciff spanned across China, Europe, Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Peru and Brazil.
