Press release

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.

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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.