Friday 16 May 2014
The Treasury and Resources Department has an Investment Sub-Committee with responsibility for monitoring the performance of the Superannuation Fund and the General Investment Pool, including the Contingency Reserve.
The Sub-Committee is made up of three Treasury Board members, these currently being the Minister, Deputy Roger Perrot and Deputy Hunter Adam. As part of its responsibilities, it works closely with the appointed investment adviser and investment managers, as well as reviewing and analysing the asset mix of the funds and the investment policies that govern them.
The Department has recently agreed to appoint Mr Christopher Waldron as a Member of its Investment Sub-Committee in an advisory and consultative capacity to assist it in taking forward its work. Minister for the Department, Deputy Gavin St Pier, explains:
"Chris has extensive experience in asset management and is a director of a number of Guernsey funds and investment companies. His experience will be invaluable in helping the Sub-Committee with its work, particularly as we consider a review of the present investment rules for the Contingency Reserve.
"The present investment rules require that a minimum of 50% of the Contingency Reserve is realisable at or near current market value within seven days. This short-term investment horizon comes at a financial opportunity cost of lower investment returns. If we are able to introduce a longer-term investment strategy, then returns could be further improved and, in turn, we can make the Contingency Reserve work even harder for us.
"The Department intends to make recommendations to the Assembly regarding the future use and investment of the Contingency Reserve in the 2015 Budget Report, so we very much welcome Chris joining us at this time to help us consider this important initiative and the other on-going areas of the Sub-Committee's work".
Educated at Elizabeth College and a graduate of London University, Mr Waldron's early career involved working as an institutional equity broker, later specialising in equity and equity index derivatives. He subsequently held investment management positions with the Bank of Bermuda, the Jardine Matheson Group and Fortis, before joining the Edmond de Rothschild Group in Guernsey as Investment Director in 1999, overseeing a team of managers specialising in fixed income and alternative investment strategies. He was appointed as Chief Executive Officer of the Edmond de Rothschild companies in Guernsey in 2008, a position he held until stepping down last year to assume a consultancy role.
Commenting on his appointment, Mr Waldron said:
"Guernsey is fortunate by comparison with many jurisdictions in that it has been able to accumulate significant reserves. However, it is vital that these are carefully and professionally managed to maximise their value to future generations and so I hope that my experience as an investment manager will help me make a meaningful contribution to the important work of this Sub-Committee."
