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WIHURI FOUNDATION FOR INTERNATIONAL PRIZES

Finances

Sustainable and strategic asset management enables the foundation’s operations, as support for science, the arts, and societal activities is distributed from investment returns. It is important for the foundation that its asset management remains sustainable, not only in terms of returns but also in other aspects.

Purpose and Principles of Investment Activities

The purpose of Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation’s investment activities is to finance the foundation’s core operations. In accordance with the foundation’s rules and foundation law, funds are invested systematically to ensure a long-term and steadily growing capacity for awarding grants and prizes.
A long-term grant policy requires investment operations to generate a sufficient and stable annual cash flow.

To manage the risks inherent in all investment activities, the foundation’s assets are diversified across different asset classes within the framework of the investment policy approved by the board. The long-term nature of the foundation’s investments ensures that short-term market fluctuations in asset values—and the resulting annual variations in realized returns—do not hinder the foundation’s ability to maintain a consistent and sustainable grant policy.

Net Returns on Investments (milj. €)

Responsible investing

The board of the Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation has established principles for responsible investing. The foundation places great importance on ensuring that its asset management remains sustainable beyond financial returns. Environmental considerations, social responsibility, and good governance (ESG) risks and opportunities are assessed and managed as an integral part of the foundation’s investment practices.
The foundation regularly monitors the implementation of responsibility in its investments. Asset managers employed by the foundation report annually on ESG-related aspects across all asset classes. Responsibility must be integrated into investment processes.

The foundation tracks the ESG performance of its publicly traded investments using data from the Sustainalytics ESG database. Based on an external analysis, the ESG risk of Wihuri Foundation’s publicly traded investments was low and below the benchmark index in 2023. This data covers 54% of the foundation’s investment portfolio. The main factors reducing coverage are unlisted alternative investments and direct real estate investments, for which no universally accepted measurement methods for ESG responsibility currently exist.

Asset Allocation

To manage the risks inherent in all investment activities, the foundation’s assets are diversified across different asset classes within the framework of the board-approved investment policy. Approximately 58% of the investments are in liquid securities, various funds, and cash holdings, minimizing the foundation’s financial and liquidity risk.

At the end of 2023, the foundation’s investments were allocated as follows, in accordance with the investment policy:

  • Publicly traded equities and equity funds: 50% (2022: 52%)
  • Fixed income instruments: 8% (2022: 10%)
  • Real estate and real estate shares: 8% (2022: 8%)
  • Alternative investments: 34% (2022: 30%)

Among publicly traded equities and equity funds, 77% (2022: 80%) were domestic, while 23% (2022: 20%) were foreign.

Alternative investments include unlisted company shares, debt instruments, forestry, residential and commercial real estate funds, and infrastructure capital funds.

At the end of the financial year, the fair value of the foundation’s investment assets and cash holdings was approximately €542 million (2022: €525 million), with a book value of €316 million (2022: €308 million). Additionally, the foundation holds a 22.4% minority stake in the unlisted company Wihuri Packaging Oy.

Asset Allocation (at the end of 2023)

Market value 542 M €

Decision-making

The board of the Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation is responsible for approving the foundation’s investment policy, which is updated annually. In accordance with the foundation’s rules and foundation law, asset management is carried out in a structured manner.

The foundation has a Financial Committee, as defined by its rules, consisting of the chairperson of the board, the Executive Director of the Foundation, and two board members appointed annually. This committee implements and monitors the foundation’s investment activities within the framework of the board-approved investment policy. The board receives regular reports on the development of the foundation’s investment portfolio.

The Executive Director acts as the presenter for both the board and the Investment Committee and is responsible for implementing investment decisions.