By David G. Barry
The Wellcome
Trust does not have plans to hire a replacement for the retiring managing
partner and CEO of its investment team, Peter Pereira Gray.
Aidan Ward, corporate media lead for the London-based charitable foundation,
said there are no immediate plans to recruit for the position and that Chief
Investment Officer Nick Moakes will continue to lead the investments
team.
Gray is set to become emeritus partner, investments, on Oct. 1 and will, said
Ward, continue to advise Wellcome – especially on the development of the Genome
Campus at Hinxton in Cambridgeshire. Gray also will continue to serve as
chairman of Urban & Civic Plc, Premier Marinas Ltd and Wellcome’s valuation
committee.
Joining Wellcome in 2001 as head of property investment, Gray was named a
managing partner in 2016 alongside Moakes and Danny Truell, who stepped down as
CIO that year. In 2017, Gray was named CEO of the investment team and Moakes
was named CIO.
During Gray’s time at the Trust, assets grew from £13.5 billion (US$15.97) to £38.2
billion (US$45.2) as of September 2021.
Over the 20-year period, annualized investment returns averaged more than 10%
per year. For the year ended September 2021, they were 34.5%. Over five years,
they were 16.4%, and 15.2% over 10 years.
In a statement, Jeremy Farrar, a Wellcome director, said that Gray “has made an
exceptional contribution to Wellcome” and “has done more than most to create
the Wellcome that exists today.”
