The Board of OWIL determines investment guidelines and restrictions in conjunction with the investment manager, these together with the investment manager's reports are reviewed at the OWIL board meetings.

INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE

The Investment Manager will seek to achieve the investment objective through investments in publicly quoted and private (unquoted) assets across three ‘silos’: (i) Core regional funds which form the core of our holdings, enabling us to capture the natural beta within markets, (ii) Sector specific silo, represented by those sectors with long-term growth attributes, such as technology and biotechnology, and (iii) Diversifying silo, which are those asset classes and sectors which will add portfolio protection as the business cycle matures.

INVESTMENT POLICY

The Investment Manager will seek to achieve the Investment Objective through investments in publicly quoted and private (unquoted) assets across the three silos. Cash levels will be managed to meet future commitments (e.g. to private assets) whilst maintaining an appropriate balance for opportunistic investments.

Commensurate with the long-term horizon, it is expected that the majority of investments will be concentrated in equity, across both ‘public’ and ‘private’ markets. In most cases, investments will be made either through collective funds or limited partnership vehicles, working alongside expert managers in specialised sectors or markets to access the best opportunities.

The Investment Manager maintains a global network to find the best opportunities across the three silos worldwide. The portfolio contains a high level of investments which would not normally be readily accessible to investors without similar resources. Furthermore, a large number of holdings are closed to new investors. There is currently no gearing although the Board would, under the appropriate circumstances, be open-minded to modest levels of gearing. Likewise, the Board may, from time to time, permit the Investment Manager opportunistically to use derivative instruments (such as index hedges using call and put options) to actively protect the portfolio.

INVESTMENT PROCESS

Manager selection is central to the successful management of the investment portfolio. Potential individual investments are considered based on their risk-adjusted expected returns in the context of the portfolio as a whole. Initial meetings are usually a result of: (i) a ‘top-down’ led search for exposure to a certain geography or sector, (ii) referrals from the Investment Manager’s global network or (iii) relationships from sell-side institutions and other introducers. The Investment Manager reviews numerous investment opportunities each year, favouring active specialist managers who can demonstrate an ability to add value over the longer-term, often combining a conviction-based approach, an unconstrained mandate and the willingness to take unconventional decisions (e.g. investing according to conviction and not fearing short-term underperformance versus an index).

Excessive size is often an impediment to continued outperformance and the bias is therefore towards managers who are prepared to restrict their assets under management to a level deemed appropriate for the underlying opportunity set. Track records are important but transparency is an equally important consideration. Alignment of interest is essential and the Investment Manager will always seek to invest on the best possible terms. Subjective factors are also important in the decision making process – these qualitative considerations would include an assessment of the integrity, skill and motivation of a fund manager.

When the Investment Manager believes there is a potential fit, thorough due diligence is performed to verify the manager’s background and identify the principal risks. The due diligence process would typically include visiting the manager in their office (in whichever country it may be located), onsite visits to prospective portfolio companies, taking multiple references and seeking a legal opinion on all relevant documentation.

All investments are reviewed on a regular basis to monitor the ongoing compatibility with the portfolio, together with any ‘red flags’ such as signs of ‘style drift’, personnel changes or lack of focus. Whilst the Investment Manager is looking to cultivate long-term partnerships, every potential repeat investment with an existing manager is assessed as if it were a new relationship.

PORTFOLIO CHARACTERISTICS

The portfolio has several similarities to the ‘endowment model’. These similarities include an emphasis on generating real returns, a perpetual time horizon and broad diversification, whilst avoiding asset classes with low expected returns (such as government bonds in the current environment). This diversification is designed to make the portfolio less vulnerable to permanent loss of capital through inflation, adverse interest rate fluctuations and currency devaluation and to take advantage of market and business cycles. The Investment Manager believes that outsized returns can be generated from investments in illiquid asset classes (such as private equity). In comparison to public markets, the pricing of assets in private markets is less efficient and the outperformance of superior managers is more pronounced.

INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT FEE

The Investment Manager receives an investment management fee of 1% of the valuation of funds under management and an annual performance fee of 10% of the net investment return which exceeds the benchmark, provided that the high-water mark has been exceeded. The portfolio performance is measured against a benchmark calculated by reference to US CPI plus 3% per annum over rolling three-year periods. Payment of performance fees are subject to a high-water mark and are capped at a maximum of 2% of portfolio NAV. The Board considers a three-year measurement period appropriate due to the investment mandate’s long-term horizon and an absolute return inflation-linked benchmark appropriately reflects the company’s investment objectives while having a linkage to economic factors.

The current benchmark was introduced on 1 January 2015 and 2017 marks the completion of the first three-year cycle under the current benchmark. In 2017 the investment management fee paid was US$2.6 million and a US$0.1 million performance fee is payable to the Investment Manager.