Maximise your philanthropic impact by investing your Gift Account funds. Once your account reaches $20,000, you can choose from our range of ethical investment options to grow your charitable giving capacity tax-free, meaning 100% of investment returns stay in your Gift Account to support the causes you care about.
Why Invest Your Charitable Funds?
When you invest through your Gift Account, your donations can grow significantly before you distribute them to charities. This amplifies your long-term impact without requiring additional contributions from you. All investment growth in your Gift Account is completely tax-free until funds are granted to charitable causes. Unlike personal investments where you’d pay tax on returns, every dollar of growth stays in your account, compounding over time to create even greater impact.
How Investment Works in Your Gift Account
Once your Gift Account reaches a balance of $20,000, you can choose to have your funds invested. This will be done in accordance with your preferences, whether you’re seeking to enlist one or multiple of our investment options.
Your Investment Options
We offer three primary investment approaches, each designed to meet different giving timelines and risk preferences while maintaining ethical investment principles.
Term Deposits
If you choose to place all or some of your gifted funds in term deposits, your funds will be combined with those of other donors in a series of rolling term deposits, to gain the benefit of guaranteed, but modest, growth. However, your funds wouldn’t grow as much as we’d expect them to in a well-performing investment portfolio.
Growth SRI Fund
Our Growth SRI fund is a diversified portfolio allocated to 80% equity and property, and 20% fixed income and cash. It is likely to achieve higher returns over 10 years or more, but is expected to show higher volatility in the value of funds held throughout that period.
Projected long-term annual return: 6.12% (after fees)
Total annual investment fees: (in addition to Gift Account fees): 1.30%
| Category | Investment product | Target allocation |
|---|---|---|
| Australian equities (7.8%) | Perpetual Ethical SRI Fund | 3.9% |
| Australian Ethical Investment Ltd Australian Shares Fund | 3.9% | |
| International equities (68.3%) | Australian Ethical Investment Ltd International Shares Fund | 22.8% |
| Pathfinder Responsible Investment Fund (Wholesale) – NZD hedged | 45.5% | |
| New Zealand property (2.8%) | Goodman Property Trust | 0.9% |
| Kiwi Property Group Limited | 1.0% | |
| Precinct Properties New Zealand Limited | 0.9% | |
| International property (1.1%) | Pathfinder Global Property Trust | 1.1% |
| Fixed interest (18%) | Vanguard Ethically Conscious Global Aggregate Bond Index Fund | 9.0% |
| Direct term deposits & NZ Government Stock | 9.0% | |
| Cash account | 2.0% | |
| Total | 100% | |
Conservative SRI Fund
Our Conservative SRI fund is a diversified portfolio allocated to 30% equity and property, and 70% fixed income and cash. It is likely to achieve higher returns than bank deposits over a five-year period and with lower volatility than our Growth SRI fund.
Projected long-term annual return: 5.16% (after fees)
Total annual investment fees: (in addition to Gift Account fees): 1.01%
| Category | Investment product | Target allocation |
|---|---|---|
| Australian equities (3.8%) | Perpetual Ethical SRI Fund | 1.9% |
| Australian Ethical Investment Ltd Australian Shares Fund | 1.9% | |
| International equities (24.4%) | Australian Ethical Investment Ltd International Shares Fund | 8.1% |
| Pathfinder Responsible Investment Fund (Wholesale) – NZD hedged | 16.3% | |
| New Zealand property (1.3%) | Goodman Property Trust | 0.4% |
| Kiwi Property Group Limited | 0.5% | |
| Precinct Properties New Zealand Limited | 0.4% | |
| International property (0.5%) | Pathfinder Global Property Trust | 0.5% |
| Fixed interest (68%) | Vanguard Ethically Conscious Global Aggregate Bond Index Fund | 34% |
| Direct term deposits & NZ Government Stock | 34% | |
| Cash account | 2.0% | |
| Total | 100% | |
Adviser-Managed Investment Funds
If you work with a financial adviser, you can choose to have your Gift Account funds managed according to a personalised investment strategy. All adviser-managed portfolios are reviewed and approved by The Gift Trust to ensure alignment with our ethical and governance standards, giving you tailored growth while maintaining philanthropic integrity.
Interested in this option? Contact us.
Our Ethical Investment Standards
All Gift Trust investment options, whether pooled SRI funds, term deposits, or adviser-managed portfolios, adhere to strict socially responsible investment principles.
What We Exclude
Our pooled SRI funds take account of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors and explicitly exclude investments in:
- Weapons and armaments
- Nuclear weapons
- Tobacco products
- Child labour
- Alcohol production
- Gambling operations
- Pornography
- Fossil fuel extraction and stocks
- Factory farming
This ensures your charitable funds grow in ways consistent with the values that drive your philanthropy.
Professional Management & Custody
Our Growth and Conservative SRI funds are managed by Bloomsbury Associates, a specialist ethical investment manager with deep expertise in socially responsible investing. All funds are held by FNZ, an independent custodian, ensuring proper separation of assets and regulatory compliance.
Important Investment Risk Disclosures
Investment risk is real: The value of funds invested in our Growth and Conservative SRI funds may go down as well as up. While these funds are professionally managed and designed to perform well over their recommended time horizons, short-term fluctuations are normal and expected.
No guarantees on managed funds: Unlike term deposits, our pooled SRI funds and adviser-managed portfolios do not guarantee capital protection. You may see your Gift Account balance decrease during market downturns, though historically these funds have recovered and grown over their intended time periods.
Seek independent advice: The Gift Trust strongly recommends you obtain independent financial advice before making investment decisions, especially if you’re unfamiliar with investment markets or uncertain about appropriate risk levels for your circumstances.
How to Choose the Right Investment Option
Selecting the best investment approach for your Gift Account depends on two key factors: your giving timeline and your comfort with investment risk.
Time horizon
What’s your time horizon for giving a significant proportion of your funds to charities? If you’re planning on giving more than half of your funds out within the next five years, then you might choose to keep that percentage of your funds in term deposits. If you’ve got a longer time horizon, then you might want to consider our pooled or adviser-managed funds.
Risk tolerance
Like any investment, the value of our pooled and adviser-managed funds can go down as well as up. While our funds are managed by accredited expert financial advisers, and are designed to perform well over the long-term, if you choose to put some of your funds into a managed fund, you may see your gifted funds drop in value in the short-term. If you don’t have an appetite for that kind of risk, then consider placing your funds in term deposits.
Ready to Start Growing Your Charitable Impact?
Investing your Gift Account funds allows your philanthropy to grow without additional contributions from you. With tax-free returns, ethical investment options, and professional management, your charitable capacity can expand significantly over time. Contact our team to discuss investment options for your balance.
