Funding our Activities

The College’s activities are largely funded by our investments. These now amount to around £600m of investment funds and property. 

Throughout much of our history, the endowment was invested in land and estates and we still own some of our original estates on Romney Marsh in Kent and around Sulgrave in Northamptonshire. In more recent years, our investments have broadened to include holdings in the global equity funds and private markets.

We set out to manage the investments so that they can fund the day to day activities of the College in the short term and also grow sufficiently so that it keeps pace with inflation over the long term. 

That means that we invest the investments to achieve overall returns that beat inflation in the long run – our target is to achieve Consumer Price Inflation (CPI) + 4%. We allocate 3% to current spending each year through a formula that averages the value of the Endowment over a ten year period to iron out what can be volatile changes in values. We recognise that risk and return mostly go together when investing. So, to achieve these returns, we invest in a diversified range of assets that are risky enough to generate average returns of around 6-7% per annum over the long term. 

We recognise that, consistent with our charitable purposes, we have social and ethical obligations that inform our approach to managing investments. We seek to act responsibly through maximising financial returns, adopting Oxford University’s policy on socially responsible investment, and working with advisers and managers that are aligned with our approach.

We set a target allocation for our investments that we believe will generate the required returns – our Strategic Asset Allocation. But our actual holdings can be somewhat different at any point.

As at 31 July 2025, our investments were in the following asset classes:

The holding in cash in 2025 is larger than the target because we are holding funds that we will use to pay for the development of new academic space for the College on Oxford’s High Street.

Our property investments now comprise a mix of types:

• Rural land that is tenanted to farmers who run diversified agricultural operations. We also look for opportunities to add value to our land through development of housing, employment uses and energy uses such as solar
• Commercial property which is rented to businesses. These comprise offices, industrial units and retail shops and food outlets
• Student properties. We operate two purpose built student properties outside of Oxford
• Residential. We own a block of flats in central Oxford that are rented out
   

Our other investments are made through holdings in funds managed by external investment managers.

Our largest investment is in a passive fund that gives us exposure to global equity markets – the Amundi ESG Global Low Carbon Ex China Equity Fund. This fund seeks to emulate the returns on the global equity market whilst tilting exposure to companies that have better approaches to ESG and lower carbon intensity.

The College’s Estates and Finance Committee sets out our approach to and oversees our investments. 

Within this framework, it delegates decisions to our Endowment Sub-Committee formed of Fellows and external members. The Endowment Sub-Committee delegates decisions on management of property to a Property Sub-Committee.