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Back in black as prayers answered
Back in black as prayers answeredPraise the Lord. The investment arm of the country's largest Anglican diocese has edged back into the black after a $160 million loss of faith in 2008.But although a few extra prayers might have worked over the last 12 months, it appears the Sydney diocese's Endowment Fund is still in financial purgatory. After all, the fund managed by the Glebe Administration Board suffered a decline in the value of its total assets over the year from $310 million to $290 million. Its total assets stood at $634 million two years ago.But the 60,000-strong flock of the Archbishop of Sydney, Peter Jensen, will be relieved to here that parish belt-tightening and a resurgent Australian sharemarket have helped the fund to post a profit of $11 million for the year to December 31.The fund has also benefited from the board's shift in focus from property to fixed-interest investments.Its equity investments rose by $7.2 million to $75.5 million dueto the recovery in sharemarkets,but property investments fell by $9.5 million to just $1.3 million due to a "strategic change in allocation to this asset class". It also blamed a "general deterioration in the value of commercial property during the year" for its investment in St Andrew's House falling by $6.2 million.After facing a backlash from worshippers for the big loss in 2008, the board moved to slash expenses within the Sydney Diocesan Secretariat. It also won't pay an interim dividend for another two years, which halves its annual distributions to $5.4 million.The board's acting chief executive, Mark Payne, said in a preamble to its latest accounts that a review was likely to lead to outsourcing of investment administration and accounting, which have been done in-house. "The board and management are committed to a range of strategic initiatives aimed at ensuring the [diocesan endowment] is on a sustainable footing," he said.Lord hear us.NEW FACESOne of the "strategic initiatives" seems to be wholesale changes to the Glebe Administration Board. Filings to the corporate plod show eight members of the board resigned or retired between November and early December. The chairman and ING bigwig, Phil Shirriff, might have apologised for the financial misjudgments at the diocese's annual synod last October but he has since been replaced by the Anglican powerbroker Canon Bruce Ballantine-Jones. Other recruits to the board include the financier Mark Ballantyne, a Goldman Sachs JBWere banking analyst, Ben Koo, and the deputy inspector-general of taxation, Andrew McLoughlin.WRATH OBVIOUSAustraland might have thought it had escaped the wrath of shareholders but it has suffered a big backlash against its executive pay and the re-election of two long-time directors.Without the support of Singapore mob CapitaLand, both the granting of almost 2 million performance rights to Australand's boss, Bob Johnston, and the remuneration report would have been voted down yesterday.Even with the controlling shareholder's support, more than 17 per cent of votes went against Johnston's share reward and about 15 per cent against the executives' pay card.Australand's chairman, Lui Chong Chee, and his deputy, James Service, also got a decent slap on the wrist from shareholders at the annual meeting yesterday as they sought another term on the board.The proxy adviser RiskMetrics had urged shareholders to vote against the pay card, Johnston's performance rights and the re-election of Chee and Service.The board of GPT take heed: shareholders have long memories and your turn is next on May 10.ON COURT, NOT INThe Sydney lawyer Steve Healy looked surprisingly relaxed yesterday before one of his biggest court battles. Healy is vying with the Australian tennis legend Paul McNamee for the presidency of Tennis Australia - and results of the vote are due on Monday.Healy, the head of Gadens Lawyers' property division and the president of Tennis NSW, quipped at a business lunch at the Hilton yesterday that his rival had tried to blindside him when they attended meetings by challenging him to a tennis match.The Gadens partner said he was happy to accept the challenge so long as McNamee agreed to a match on legal jargon afterwards.Healy is no slouch on the tennis courts: he was once ranked in the top 600.VIRGIN HOOROOA planeload of aviation diehards will be touching down in Sydney in two weeks for Brett Godfrey's departure from Virgin Blue.Called "Brett Unbuckled", the bash for about 300 guests will be held at the Ivy on May 5 - three days before he officially hands the baton to former Qantas heavyweight John Borghetti.Godfrey's departure will be just three months shy of Virgin Blue's 10-year anniversary.The list of guests includes former and present Virgin executives, industry sparring partners, politicians and finance types. Among them are Geoff Dixon, Alan Joyce, Max Moore-Wilton, Rod Eddington, Bruce Baird and Anthony Albanese. Some of Godfrey's original executive crew in Rob Sherrard, David Huttner and Bruce Highfield are even expected to fly in for the bash.One notable absentee at this stage is likely to be Richard Branson, Virgin Blue's co-founder and dominant shareholder, who is meantime in training for the London Marathon on April 25. Soon to turn 60, the British entrepreneur is apparently more than keen to flex his legs."He is a stickler for punishment," a Virgin Group spokeswoman said. "I took him for out for a run when he was here [in Australia] and I was surprised how well he went."We can"t help but wonder whether his private island in the Caribbean is big enough for an aspiring marathon runner to do his training.We're told Godfrey will not be his running partner in London on Anzac Day.Got a tip? Use our online tips box or email mosullivan@smh.com.au
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