Peter Pereira Gray, managing partner and chief executive officer of the investments team at Wellcome, has announced that he will retire at the end of September.
Pereira Gray joined the trust in 2001 as head of property investment and later held senior leadership roles. He became managing partner in 2016 and chief executive of the investment division the following year.
He is understood to be one of the highest earning employees at Wellcome, which paid two members of staff more than £4.5m in the year to September 2020, and in the charity sector overall.
Under his leadership, the trust’s assets grew almost tripled to £38.2bn as of September 2021. Annualised investment returns have stood at over 10% over the last 20 years.
The trust, which is one of the UK’s largest charitable donors, has pledged to give £1.2bn to causes in 2023, up from the £274m it gave in 2001.
Pereira Gray will continue to be involved in the trust’s activities as emeritus partner and chair of Urban&Civic Plc, Premier Marinas Ltd and Wellcome’s valuation committee.
Jeremy Farrar, director of Wellcome, said: “Peter has made an exceptional contribution to Wellcome over many years, for which all of his colleagues are extremely grateful. His leadership has been instrumental in driving the extraordinary performance of our investment portfolio, which is what now enables us to spend £16bn on our mission over the coming decade. He has done more than most to create the Wellcome that exists today.”
Pereira Gray said: “It has been an extraordinary privilege to work for Wellcome for almost 22 years and I’m immensely proud of what the investment team has achieved in that time. Wellcome has one of the best long-term investment performance track records anywhere in the world and I’m delighted at the contribution that this has made to funding Wellcome’s charitable mission.”
Wellcome has “no immediate plans” to recruit a replacement for Pereira Gray. Chief investment officer Nick Moakes will continue to lead the investments team, a spokesperson said.
Related articles
