Jeff Kennett

The Advisory Panel for the Australian Volunteer Support Trust (AVST) established in the wake of the summer bushfires to support the families of volunteers who die in the course of their duties will meet for the first time this Wednesday 1 July to ensure arrangements are in place to support the first beneficiaries of the trust – the families of the volunteer firefighters who tragically lost their lives last bushfire season.

The Panel, chaired by The Hon Jeff Kennett AC (chairman of Equity Trustees), includes Dame Quentin Bryce AD CVO, David Gonski AC, Jennifer Westacott AO and Lisa Paul AO.

“We are honoured to have this responsibility to support the families of volunteers who pay a terrible price of helping protect and preserve our communities during disasters,” said Mick O’Brien, Managing Director, Equity Trustees.

“It is our aim, through the AVST, to provide support – particularly where there are dependent children with education needs or families that have lost a breadwinner through this selfless service.

“We know that the recent bushfires will not be our last – and the coronavirus pandemic has shown we will face further disasters as a country. It is up to all of us to look at what we can offer and how we can play our part to build our community’s ability to respond and recover. A trustee company is built to last and already legislated to serve the best interests of its clients – which is why we are a logical part of any recovery effort,” he said.

Equity Trustees, together with the Business Council of Australia (BCA), established the Australian Volunteer Support Trust and the Community Rebuilding Trust in response to the recent catastrophic bushfires but designed them to support any future disaster and emergency event recovery efforts.

The two trusts have raised nearly $10 million, with funds being directed in part to bushfire affected communities via the BizRebuild program managed by BCA and to support the families and children of emergency volunteers who died in service during the fires.

“The benefit of an independent professional trustee leading the structuring of charitable trusts like these means they are designed with the benefit of 130+ years of experience in trust law dealing with charitable trusts. We have the ability to ensure the funds are invested and professionally managed to grow the corpus – and to ensure all granting of distributions are managed through proven processes, which is what people who donate should expect in return for their generosity,” said Mr O’Brien.

However, he said the main aim of the AVST was to provide a Trust that people could have confidence in, and which would provide some relief to the families and children it was designed to benefit.

“We manage more than 600 charitable trusts – many are nearly as old as we are. These two trusts have been structured so they can receive funds from the widest possible range of sources – including other charitable structures such as private ancillary funds. This maximises the ability of the AVST to channel maximum funds to families impacted by disasters.

“The Australian community has rightly been concerned recently about charitable funds making their way to the intended beneficiaries as efficiently as possible. With Equity Trustees at the helm of the AVST, we will make sure of it now and in perpetuity,” he concluded.

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Jeff Kennett

Australia’s leading trustee company, Equity Trustees, has completed the establishment of two perpetual charitable trusts designed specifically to support people and communities around the country to recover from disaster and emergency events.

With the support of the Commonwealth Government, and all Members of both Houses of the Federal Parliament, Equity Trustees had the two Trusts registered in record time and they were listed in the Tax Act after the Bill passed through the Senate on 6 February. The listing ensures tax deductibility for all donations from individuals and companies and the ability to accept contributions from private and public ancillary funds.

The Australian Volunteers Support Trust and the Community Rebuilding Trust were established in response to the recent catastrophic bushfires and they will also operate to support any future disaster and emergency event recovery effort. The Trusts are a joint initiative with the Business Council of Australia (BCA), with our work being performed pro bono, including pro bono support from Gilbert and Tobin and Deloitte.

Equity Trustees Chairman, the Hon Jeff Kennett AC said: “This joint effort is about planning for any future recovery efforts and being positioned to help ensure there is a pool of funds available to complement donations made in response to specific disasters and emergency events.

“We need to think long-term, and we need to have a way people, business and philanthropic funds can have confidence in where they direct their donations and their support. Trusts with clearly defined purposes are the best way of ensuring funds are directed where people want and have the lowest administrative costs, ensuring more dollars benefit the community.”

The Australian Volunteer Support Trust (AVST) will assist the family of any recognised emergency services volunteer in Australia who tragically loses their life while responding to a disaster. Families of such volunteers who lost their lives after 1 July 2019 will be able to seek support from the Trust.

The AVST Advisory Panel is being led by Mr Kennett and includes Jennifer Westacott AO, Dame Quentin Bryce AD CVO, David Gonski AC and Lisa Paul AO. Representatives from Australian emergency service volunteering organisations will also be included on the Panel.

“We are deeply committed to supporting the families of those emergency services volunteers who have lost their lives serving and protecting all of us and our communities. We particularly want to ensure that the children of such volunteers are not disadvantaged and their key to future opportunities through education is secure,” Mr Kennett said.

The Community Rebuilding Trust (CRT) will support the rebuilding of community assets and is part of a larger Community Rebuilding Initiative chaired by General Sir Peter Cosgrove AK CVO MC, and a committee including John Anderson AO, Rebecca Frizelle, Danny Gilbert AM, Katie Page, Tim Reed, Tony Shepherd AO, Richard Goyder AO, Yvonne von Hartel AM and Jennifer Westacott AO.

Equity Trustees, which manages and administers more than 650 charitable trusts and distributes more than $80 million a year, provided its specialised trustee services team to establish both trusts.

Equity Trustees Managing Director Mick O’Brien said: “With the listing in the Tax Act, the two Trusts we have established can also support charities and foundations in a way that not only honours the intention of the donors for the immediate cause but also contributes to a longer term approach to support.

“This is one way Equity Trustees can offer practical and useful support to the recovery effort. These trusts have been established to ensure all money that goes into them will go to the recovery and rebuilding effort,” Mr. O’Brien said

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Mick O’Brien

EQT Holdings Limited (ASX: EQT), the holding company for Equity Trustees, yesterday announced a 12.7% increase in net profit to $22.2 million and growth in basic earnings per share of 11.7% for the year ended 30 June 2019.

Revenue increased 4.6% to $92.5 million, while expenses grew by only 2.4%.

Funds under management, administration and supervision (FUMAS) were down slightly to $84.9 billion, however, there was good growth in FUMAS in the second half.

Chairman Jeff Kennett AC said: “Equity Trustees has produced another strong performance and is continuing to deliver for all stakeholders in a changing and sometimes difficult environment for financial services.

EQT’s model of offering independent, trusted services is driving the group’s success and we are well positioned to capitalise on future growth opportunities.”

Managing director Mick O’Brien said the business had reported consistent underlying organic growth over the year.

“All areas of the business performed strongly, particularly those arising from recent acquisitions and partnerships.

Solid revenue growth, healthy cash flows and a strong balance sheet underpinned this performance.”

Mr O’Brien said Equity Trustees was targeting opportunities in Australia and overseas to grow and leverage its independent model.

“We are investing heavily in resources, including senior personnel and technology, to enable us to support growth opportunities as they arise.”

Mr O’Brien said the company’s European expansion was on track, winning large US and UK clients and is well placed for any Brexit outcome.

He said that while market volatility would continue to influence the Group’s financial performance, the outlook for FY20 and beyond was positive, with attractive industry fundamentals and a solid pipeline of opportunities.

“The investment we have made to support the potential growth opportunities means that we expect earnings growth to be weighted towards the second half of the 2020 financial year.

Our independent model is increasingly sought in an industry undergoing substantial realignment and positions us well for future growth.”

Key points:

• Net profit up 12.7% to $22.2 million
• Basic earnings per share up 11.7% to 108.6 cents
• Final dividend of 46c per share; total dividend for the year 9.8% higher at 90c per share
• Funds under management, administration and supervision of $84.9 billion, marginally lower
• Strong, stable performance in a changing industry environment
• Investing for new growth phase driven organically and through potential new partnerships and appointments

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Jeff Kennett

Leading trustee provider of philanthropy funding, Equity Trustees, today released a much-anticipated report containing analysis of $87 million of philanthropic granting and bequests overseen by the Company in the 2018 financial year.

“For generations Australians have been creating and leaving philanthropic legacies that Equity Trustees has had the privilege and honour of stewarding through changing times.” said the Hon Jeffrey Kennett AC, Chairman, Equity Trustees.

“Many, through their generosity are ‘living forever’, assisting people and institutions of their choosing. This report shares the stories of many philanthropists, past and present, and highlights the impact their perpetual giving has achieved and continues to achieve. I am full of admiration for the many people and for-purpose organisations who we have partnered with to unlock the value of those funds to make a real and lasting difference to our community.”

“The report tells some of the most compelling stories we could find of collaboration between for-purpose organisations and funders towards achieving shared outcomes.”

Examples include:

• supporting the creation of out of home care funding groups who work with young people and are campaigning to increase the age limit on out of home care,
• working with key funders of Aboriginal organisations,
• catalysing start-up social enterprises supporting solutions for ageing Australians,
• empowering grass roots climate action project funding,
• medical research, and so much more.

The Annual Giving Review sets out, with detail rarely shared, how Equity Trustees continues to evolve its giving, and the journey it is are taking towards mapping, measuring and communicating how it is deepening impact through philanthropic funding. It sets out a blueprint for how Equity Trustees measures impact in the company’s four key focus areas:

1. Children and young people
2. Ageing and aged care
3. Medical research and health
4. Animals and environment

Managing Director, Mick O’Brien, said: “Equity Trustees has the remarkable privilege of being a company with a purpose through the generosity of our clients, to create positive social change.

“We have an incredibly dedicated, experienced team of philanthropy professionals who, every day, manage more than 650 charitable trusts, make thousands of granting decisions, and help hundreds of people make philanthropy a core part of their life.

“We are proud of the impact we are making in the community through delivering on our responsibility as a leading provider of charitable funds in Australia, and through our partnerships with the for-purpose sector. Philanthropy is one of our key strengths and is fundamental to Equity Trustees’ ability to deliver on one of our four strategic targets for the overall company – to deepen community impact,” he said.

Read the report.

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EQT Chairman Jeff Kennett said: “Tim comes to Equity Trustees with an excellent mix of experience aligned with the responsibilities that come with being on the Board of a 130 year old Australian company which was built on a foundation of trust.”

Mr Hammon was the CEO of Mutual Trust Pty Ltd, from 2007 to 2017, building the business to become a leading Australian multi-family office servicing high net worth clients, and prior to that, in leadership positions with Coles Myer Ltd for 11 years. He began his career in law with Mallesons Stephen Jaques and was a partner at the firm for 12 years (1984 – 1996) after graduating in law and commerce at the University of Melbourne.

He has held Board positions with not for profit organisations, the Abbotsford Convent Foundation and St Catherine’s School and is an Ambassador for the fund raising campaign for the Aikenhead Centre for Medical Discovery. Mr Hammon is currently on the Board of shopping centre development company Vicinity Centres, a listed REIT.

“The mix of commercial, not for profit, and legal expertise will strengthen and diversify the experience around the Board table of Equity Trustees and support the development of Australia’s leading specialist trustee company.”

Mr Kennett said Mr Hammon’s appointment to the EQT Board is part of the Company’s structured approach to Board succession and planning, and integral to EQT’s strategy as Australia’s leading specialist trustee company.

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Jeff Kennett

Australia’s leading specialist trustee company, Equity Trustees today unveiled its new brand identity and logo. Built on a rich 130-year history, the new design retains key aspects of the brand’s heritage but brings in vibrant new elements that reflect an optimism for the future.

“The past two years have seen Equity Trustees strengthen in our traditional markets, develop into new ones and take our first steps offshore,” said Mick O’Brien, Managing Director, Equity Trustees.

Equity Trustees Chairman, the Hon. Jeff Kennett AC holds a direct connection to the foundation of Equity Trustees in 1888 – and its original ‘brand’. His great grandfather Edward Fanning was the Company’s longest serving director serving for a total of 30 years – 22 as Chairman.

But Mr Kennett said the time was right for change: “Our new brand puts Equity Trustees firmly in today’s landscape; It is a relevant, modern development of our trusted brand. Equity Trustees is starting the next lap of its long life and the time is right to make a change as we begin our next 130 years.

“I am confident he would be proud to know that the Company he was a director of when it was established has thrived while being true to its core brand values of trust, empathy and professionalism – just as we always have.”

“We are changing and adapting to meet changing market demands and client expectations. The brand needed to transform too – to present ourselves as a contemporary, leading trustee company with a brand that remains synonymous with trust, empathy and professionalism.”

Mr O’Brien said that trust was an increasingly valuable asset in the current heightened risk environment in financial services.

“We have, and always will appreciate that it is on trust that we build our business and serve generations of clients. Retaining the scales in our refreshed brandmark is symbolic of our continuing commitment to balancing our fiduciary responsibilities and obligations with care and concern for our clients.

“I am pleased to see our brand come to life with a rejuvenated look and feel, and a new energy that better reflects and represents our Company character, our ambition, our heritage and our strengths,” he said.

The Equity Trustees scales and well-recognised name have been retained but a strong new design element of curved brackets has been added to represent the care and trust clients place in Equity Trustees giving the traditional brand a modern look.

With a primary colour palette of blue and yellow, the blue links to the Company’s heritage, while the yellow adds a burst of energy with a modern twist.

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Jeff Kennett

Equity Trustees’ Chairman, the Hon Jeff Kennett AC, says a proposed Federal Government bill would stifle public advocacy by many charities and add an unnecessary layer of red tape.

“As Australia’s leading trustee with responsibility for more than 500 charitable trusts, Equity Trustees is deeply concerned the proposed bill has gone well beyond the original intent to protect our democracy from malicious external interference,” Mr Kennett said.

Mr Kennett has written to the minister, Senator Cormann, expressing his concern over the impact of the proposed Electoral Legislation Amendment (Electoral Funding and Disclosure Reform) Bill 2017.

“Equity Trustees believes there are many cases in which the proposed law would stifle public advocacy by charities on policy issues that are legitimate and important topics for public discussion.

“This Bill may have been developed with the best of intentions, but it has gone too far.”

Mr Kennett said the reporting and compliance obligations of the proposed Bill were also onerous and could apply to hundreds of charitable trusts overseen by Equity Trustees.

“The proposed law would add a layer of red tape to many charities increasing the cost of compliance and requiring significant resourcing.”

Mr Kennett said, as a trustee for charitable trusts, Equity Trustees was responsible for granting funds to thousands of not-for-profit organisations to the tune of around $70 million annually.

He said it was Equity Trustees’ responsibility to speak up for those who appointed a trustee company to carry out their instructions in perpetuity.

“There are many examples of the practical impact; two of our foundations currently fund work being done to create change for young people in out of home care, another trust funds advocacy to achieve better outcomes for ageing Australians including those at risk of homelessness. We are responsible for Trusts that are committed to better outcomes for Indigenous Australians – work which cannot rule out looking at policies and structures that prevent progress.

“Advocacy on behalf of vulnerable Australians is essential work for many organisations funded through our trusts,” Mr Kennett said.

“However, the proposed legislation threatens to stifle Australian philanthropy which provides millions of dollars to the social sector complementing government funds every day to make our community better, healthier and safer.”

Mr Kennett said the compliance and reporting requirements under the proposed changes would be burdensome on charities and funding bodies and included potentially severe civil and criminal penalties for breaching the reporting requirements to the AEC.

“This will require significant resourcing by us as trustee, as well as not-for-profits and charities.”

Mr Kennett said Equity Trustees regularly distributed grants well in excess of the threshold amount of $13,500 multiple times per year, across a large number of not-for-profits, meaning that the majority of granting would need additional scrutiny to test whether it came under the new requirements and therefore additional reporting.

“I can’t help but wonder what the founders of our largest and most generous foundations and trusts, which have been responsible for building some of our great national institutions and still fund them to this day, would think, if we, as trustee, find ourselves in a position of spending time and resources on compliance obligations for no benefit to the community – or the safety of our democracy,” he concluded.

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Jeff Kennett

EQT Holdings Limited (ASX: EQT), the holding company for Equity Trustees, has  announced a 33% increase in net profit after tax to $9.6 million for the half year to 31 December 2017.

EQT Chairman Jeff Kennett said: “The significant improvement flowed from strong performances by Equity Trustees’ core businesses including the commitment of all employees, as well as the success of its recent business restructure.”

“Strong returns were underpinned by successful business development and EQT’s disciplined approach to cost management.”

EQT Managing Director Mick O’Brien added: “Equity Trustees is realising the benefits of its strategy to focus on its competitive strengths.

We have transformed the business and are building a platform for growth through our series of acquisitions and partnerships,” he said. “The Sandhurst Trustees Estates and Trusts (Sandhurst) acquisition has made its first contribution this half.

The strategic alliance with Aon, the acquisition of OneView’s Responsible Entity business and our first move offshore with the purchase of a majority stake in Treasury Capital Limited (TCL), are all in the early stages, with benefits still to come.

As Australia’s leading independent specialist trustee company we continue to see opportunites in our core markets both in Australia and overseas, and the outlook is positive.”

An increased interim dividend of 40 cents per share, fully franked, has been declared. This is 5 cents higher than the 2017 interim dividend, reflecting the profit increase.

The business units performed strongly, with organic growth and the Sandhurst acquisition helping boost Trustee and Wealth Services revenue 12%, while Corporate Trustee Services delivered steady returns and reported strong new business flow.

Mr O’Brien said: “Cost control driven by the operating model review, had been particularly pleasing, with expenses slightly lower despite a 9% increase in revenue.”

He said: “The recent move into the UK fund governance market, through the acquisition of 60% of TCL, provided an entry into the $US70 trillion global funds management industry.

There is a growing need for independent fiduciary services globally as well as in Australia.”

Mr Kennett said: “Equity Trustees’ unconflicted model is highly valuable in a world where individuals and governments are increasingly concerned about the delivery of trusted financial services.

We believe our approach gives us an advantage in serving clients and establishing strong partnerships.

We will continue to focus on leveraging our areas of specialist expertise to deliver benefits for clients, staff and shareholders,” Mr Kennett concluded.

Key points:

• Revenue up 9% to $43.2 million, with disciplined expense management
• Net profit after tax $9.6 million, up 33% on previous corresponding period
• Funds under management, administration and supervision, $78.6 billion, up 8%
• Interim dividend 40 cents, up 5 cents on previous corresponding period

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