Investments

City Bridge Foundation (the working name for the historic Bridge House Estates) has a significant investment portfolio which provides the financial resources to fund our activities. 

We use our investment returns to ensure our five Thames bridges are maintained now and in the future. Any additional money which is available once these obligations have been met is used for our funding activities, to build a fairer, greener London .

We are an endowed charity, which means that part of our investment portfolio must be held ​‘in perpetuity’ to allow the charity to continue to deliver its objects forever. We are therefore a long-term investor, which informs our approach to managing all our investments, even those which we might need to sell and use in the short and medium term.

The Charity has an Investment Strategy Statement in place which sets out our investment principles, objectives, targets and timeframes for investments. We are in the process of developing a revised investment strategy and this will be published once approved.

We require our investments to provide financial returns but at the same time we recognise that the size of our investment holdings gives us influence which we can use to further our charitable vision and mission, in particular our commitments to a sustainable future through our climate action plan and our vision for a fairer London.

Our portfolio is made up of assets mainly in the City of London and the London Borough of Southwark, including offices, retail, industrial and educational buildings. We receive rental income from these properties and also benefit from increases in the property values. 

We are proud to hold properties in the city where we carry out our charitable activities, and we are undertaking refurbishments and improvements to ensure that the buildings support our sustainability targets and reduce carbon emissions.

We hold a range of different financial investments which generate an absolute return over the long term whilst preserving their real value and being available to meet our cash requirements. 

Our financial investments are managed by various fund managers on our behalf, and our investment strategy statement is the basis of their approach to managing our funds.

Our Social Investment Fund invests in enterprises and markets that achieve social impact and provide financial return. We have set aside up to £20m for this type of investment, and our investment decisions factor in both the financial returns and the anticipated impact of the request.

See more detail on this on our Financial support page. 

We are one of the UK’s largest charities by asset value and we recognise the importance of our investment portfolio in delivering our charitable objects – ensuring that we have the funds to continue in perpetuity, and in enabling us to be a responsible leader in charity investment.

More detail on the most recent valuations of our investment portfolio can be found in our latest annual report.