Bursar’s Report

THE GOAL IN SIGHT

William Sewell’s 1847 aspiration to provide one free place in ten has acted as a beacon lighting a path for us as we forge Radley’s 21st century history.

Our modern interpretation is more ambitious. We envisage the equivalent of 20% of fee income will fund means-tested funded places - roughly half for full fee awards and half for awards at varying levels to ensure access for all. Once achieved, up to a third of students will receive funding - around 75 with the free places envisaged by Sewell and a further 150-200 with partial funding to enable them to come to Radley. How can we do this?

We must build, protect and grow an endowment from which to create funded places. There are three parts to this. Firstly, swapping a small portion of our land assets into invested endowment assets. Our most recent land sales relate to land acquired in the 1930s and 1940s and, as we invest the proceeds, we must also look at opportunities to replenish for future generations. Second, we look to the generosity of our donors. We have many inspirational stories to tell of boys’ lives transformed by the philanthropy of others. Third, through good stewardship of our finances to ensure we can reinvest surpluses and avoid deficits.

We must also partner with the very best. In 2018 the College placed its endowment funds with Oxford University Endowment Management (OUem) whose track record is the envy of many. Not only do they consistently protect and grow capital, but their distribution policy allows a stable, predictable and growing distribution each year (which pays for many of the funded places we offer). The Oxford Endowment Fund has returned 249.4% since inception in 2009. It has returned 10.9% annualised over the last ten years. It has distributed £1.1bn for charitable purposes. OUem now manages £5.6bn of assets for over 40 investors, with Radley College being the founding one of a small number of non-University investors. We are delighted also with OUem’s excellent ESG credentials, which are in tune with the College’s Sustainability Strategy (see page 14 to read more about this).

Current performance is not a predictor of future performance. But when facing what is potentially a once in every generation or two paradigm change in the financial markets, as we are at present, it is reassuring that we are backing a first class management team, investing in some of the finest managers in the world and applying a long term endowment philosophy where preservation of capital is everything, an approach that has stood the test of time for many great institutions through wars, pestilence and recessions.

So, what of the future? Well, over the last five years we have accelerated funded places provision by almost 1% per year. In 2022/23, we will be applying 10% of fees in means-tested awards, a doubling of where we were five years ago. It is truly ambitious, but if we can maintain that rate of growth, we envisage an endowment approaching £140m in 2032 and the 20% vision may be nearing reality. Five years ago, people challenged whether this was achievable. Now we have clear and tangible evidence we are making good progress down the path.

What’s that in the distance? Ah yes, Sewell’s shining beacon, providing the light at the end of the tunnel that we stride purposefully towards.