The comparative study of 250 foundations in the UK, Germany, Switzerland and Italy by consultancy Watson Wyatt, aimed to explore issues related to long-term investment and disbursement planning, and the governance structures behind investment decisions. It found that only 30% of respondents felt investment performance was an important factor when deciding disbursements, despite the fact that investment returns were the main source of income for more than half the foundations in the survey.

Furthermore, it found that only 12% of German and Italian and 6% of Swiss and UK foundations said investment policy was often discussed at fiduciary board meetings – this compared to regular discussion of operations by 90% of those questioned.

The study also looked at preferences in asset allocation (with 90% favouring diversification, but 30% believing a home bias would be optimal), board governance and investment training.

On the last point, Kevin Carter, European head of investment consulting at Watson Wyatt, said: “There appears to be a shortage of training for foundation boards, particularly on investment issues, which could have an adverse effect on decision making, particularly as, according to the survey, less than five per cent of these fiduciaries hold any professional investment qualification.”

The full survey is not currently available to the public, but a spokesman for Watson Wyatt said it would potentially be made available in future.