Two charitable listed investment companies founded and directed by Geoff Wilson and backed by billionaires Solomon Lew, Andrew Forrest, Alex Waislitz and the Smorgon family have struck a deal with online broker CommSec to facilitate more charitable giving by investors.
The Future Generation Global Company (FGG) and the Future Generation Investment Company (FGX) give shareholders exposure to top local and international fund managers who donate part of their assets to charities.
The fund managers waive all fees for investors. The CommSec partnership will allow the online broker’s customers to purchase shares in FGX and FGG without paying brokerage fees.
“This new initiative will help support Australian charities while encouraging investors to include charitable giving in their investment strategy,’’ Mr Wilson said. Both FGX and FGG plan to grow to be the second-biggest donors in the local not-for-profit sector as they expand their assets to more than $3 billion over the next decade.
In September, they revealed a total combined donation of $4.7 million to Australian youth and children’s charities for the 12 months to June 30. FGG, listed on the ASX a year ago, delivered its inaugural annual donation of $2.4m to Australian charities focused on children and youth mental health. FGX provided $2.29m to Australian charities focused on children and youth at risk following an inaugural donation of $1.6m in 2015.
The 22 charities benefiting from the donations include Beyond Blue, Black Dog Institute, Brain & Mind Research Institute, Butterfly Foundation, Headspace and ReachOut Australia.
