Leading investments industry figure joins Wellcome Trust Board of Governors
Alan Brown, a leading figure in the investments community, is to join the Board of Governors of the Wellcome Trust, it is announced today. He will take up his position on 1 May.
Alan Brown read Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge before starting a career in the investment management industry, where he has worked for almost 40 years. He has held positions as a Chief Investment Officer for the past 23 years, most recently as an Executive Director at Schroders.
Alan's other responsibilities include Chairman of the Board of the Carbon Disclosure Project, and Chairman and Treasurer of the Foundation Board for the Centre for Economic Research and Graduate Education in Prague. He is a Director of the Investment Management Association, an alternate member of the Takeover Panel and a non-executive director of Pool Reinsurance Company, a scheme established to provide cover for losses arising from terrorism.
"I am very pleased to announce the appointment of Alan Brown to both our Board of Governors and our Investment Committee," said Sir William Castell, Chairman of the Wellcome Trust Board of Governors. "Alan brings a depth of knowledge and expertise of the investment industry together with a set of diverse interests that include education, climate change and corporate governance. He will undoubtedly bring insights to our Board which will be beneficial to the team at Wellcome."
Alan added: "I have been interested in science ever since my student days at Cambridge and so I am delighted to have the opportunity to work for the Wellcome Trust, combining my interest in science with my experience in the investment industry. I greatly admire the charitable work of the Trust and the consistently strong performance of its asset base and am looking forward to taking up my position on its Board."
The Wellcome Trust, a global charitable foundation with an asset base of £13.6 billion at the end of 2010/11, was established in 1936 through an endowment in the will of Sir Henry Wellcome. Since the flotation of Wellcome plc in 1986, the Trust's investment returns have averaged 15 per cent per annum. The Trust spends over £600 million each year towards its mission of achieving extraordinary improvements in human and animal health.
About Alan Brown
Alan Brown read Natural Sciences at Christ's College, University of Cambridge. After graduating in 1974, Alan joined Morgan Grenfell, where he worked for ten years. After a further five years at Posthorn Global Asset Management, originally an asset management business of American Express, he was asked to set up PanAgora, a new asset management business and a joint venture with Nippon Life, which he joined in 1989 as Chief Investment Officer.
In 1994, Alan was approached to join State Street Global Advisors to lead its London office. As Group Chief Investment Officer, he helped build the company into one of the largest institutional fund managers in the world. He was voted the Financial News CIO of the Year in 2002 and 2003 and during his final year with the company was advising on over $1.4 trillion of funds under management.
In 2005, Alan took on the position of Chief Investment Officer for Schroders. He has remained with the firm since then. He was voted the Funds Europe European CIO of the year in 2009. In his capacity as an Executive Director of Schroders, his responsibilities include strategic planning, financial control, risk management and acquisition strategy.
In addition to his work at Schroders, Alan is Chairman and Treasurer of the Board of the US foundation for the Centre for Economic Research and Graduate Education–Economics Institute in Prague, which was set up in 1991 to meet the critical need in post-communist Eastern Europe for qualified economists and policy makers who understood the capitalist economic model. He is also Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Carbon Disclosure Project, an independent not-for-profit organisation holding the largest database of primary corporate climate change information in the world.
Alan is publicly recognised for his interest in good corporate governance and is a member of the Advisory Council to the Institutional Investor Committee and a member of the Board of the Investment Management Association.
About the Wellcome Trust
The Wellcome Trust is a global charitable foundation dedicated to achieving extraordinary improvements in human and animal health. It supports the brightest minds in biomedical research and the medical humanities. The Trust's breadth of support includes public engagement, education and the application of research to improve health. It is independent of both political and commercial interests.