Market turmoil dents trust funds

CHAOS in the world’s financial markets ripped a big hole in Shetland Charitable Trust’s funds this week with £10 million possibly wiped off their value in just two days.

The estimate came from trust acting general manager Jeff Goddard who said he would have to wait until today to receive an accurate figure in his weekly update from fund managers in London. A week ago the funds totalled £175.8m, having lost £8.6m since the start of the financial year due to changes in the market plus £9m taken out by the trust to spend on its projects during 2008/09.

Trustees remained calm at their meeting on Wednesday despite news of their funds evaporating at such a frightening rate. The trust has been this way before and Mr Goddard emphasised that it is the long-term performance over the course of years that matters, not the effects on paper of the daily spasms of the market. He said this week’s drop was an example of why trustees shouldn’t look at the funds’ performance every day.