CONSIDER YOUR GOALS

When you’re planning your investments, clear objectives and a good understanding of the options available to you will help you meet your goals. Here are some important factors you can think about now:

  • Length of your investment – long-term or short-term?
  • Your appetite for risk – where does your charity fit on the scale; are you cautious or adventurous?
  • Access to your money – do you need to take out funds at any point?
  • Income – are you investing to create a sustainable income?
  • Ethical concerns – do you have ethical criteria for your investments?
  • Diversification – should you invest across a range of investments?
  • Past performance – how have the investments performed in the past?
  • Management – how actively do you want to manage your investments?

New to investments? Our guide to getting started with investing can help.

Different investments suit different investors, so it’s important to get advice from an independent financial adviser. Find out more about investment advice for charities.

YOUR INVESTMENT OPTIONS

CAF Funds

Our flexible range of investments with award-winning partners, designed for charities of all sizes.


Common Investment Funds (CIFs)

Specifically set up for charities, these funds are also charities in their own right.

Charity-specific funds

Other funds designed specifically for charities. Plus funds which aren’t charity specific but offer exposure to specific markets or types of investment eg regions.


Direct investment

Invest directly through shares or equities, bonds or gilts.

What do these mean?

PREFER TO INVEST DIRECTLY?

If you already know what you want, you can invest directly in companies and organisations. It's easy to buy and sell a wide range of:

  • Shares, or equities – When you buy shares in a company, you're buying a stake in the company's capital. Shares have the potential to generate higher returns than bonds, but can also represent a higher-risk option.
  • Bonds – When you buy a bond, you're effectively lending money to a company or government for a fixed period of time, at a fixed or variable rate of interest - just like an IOU. Bonds typically come with lower risk than shares, but when interest rates are low, they can pay lower returns.
  • Gilts, or government bonds – These are bonds issued by the UK government and act as an IOU from the Chancellor of the Exchequer to fund the running of the country.

LEARN MORE ABOUT PLANNING YOUR CHARITY'S INVESTMENTS

Our articles are packed full of useful guidance on a range of topics around planning your investments

Investment involves risk. The value of investments, and the income from them, can go down as well as up and an investor may get back less than the amount invested.  There is no guarantee about the level of capital or income returns that will be generated. Past performance is not a guide to future results.

CAF Financial Solutions Limited (CFSL) is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority under registration number 189450. CFSL Registered office is 25 Kings Hill Avenue, Kings Hill, West Malling, Kent ME19 4TA. Registered in England and Wales under number 2771873. CFSL is a subsidiary of Charities Aid Foundation (registered charity number 268369).