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NEUROLOGICAL FOUNDATION FINANCIAL OVERVIEW by Simon Thorne, Head of Support Services Please note, all figures used in this document are unaudited at the time of print. An audited version of the Annual Impact Report 2021/22 will be made available on the Neurological Foundation website in October 2022 The funding of research continues to be the main focus of the Neurological Foundation. We are pleased to report an increase in research expenditure this financial year. However, last year was challenging from a financial perspective with COVID-19 and then world events impacting the financial performance of the organisation. A deficit of approximately $4m for the year was caused by a reduction in investment income and an increase in research grants. The Foundation continues, however, to have a very strong financial base with excellent reserves built up over its 50 years of work. Revenue for the year was $6m – down 45% on the previous year. This reduction in revenue was due to both less gifts in wills, and lower investment income over the period. Income from wills can be very variable, and while it was a significant portion of our revenue at approximately $3m, it was down from the prior year. A large portion of the Foundation’s investments was consolidated with Mercer during the year, to enable the Foundation to have better control over its investment portfolio. Unfortunately, prevailing economic and world events meant there was significant downward pressure on the portfolio which resulted in overall negative performance for the year for all of our investments. Expenses for FY21 were $10m – 40% up on last year. Overhead expenses were all similar to last year as our Supporter Relations team continues to deliver amazing digital events and the Headlines publication to our supporters. Administration costs were down to 10% of total expenses. As noted, research grant expenses increased by over $3m resulting in a total of over $5m granted to education and research. Annual research grants were up 18% with an additional $0.9m granted over the previous year. In addition, $2.5m was committed to a further five years of funding for the Neurological Foundation Chair of Clinical Neurology at the University of Auckland for 2023-2028. Looking forward, while the challenging environments are likely to remain for some time, the Foundation continues to operate in a financially sustainable manner so it can keep delivering on its outcomes for another 50 plus years. Please note a final audited financial report for 2021/22 will be made available to our members through the Neurological Foundation website. Unfortunately, at time of print, Deloitte Limited were unable to complete its annual audit of the financial statements due to staffing and workloads. Our Annual General Meeting 2022 will once again be held online, making it accessible to all members, regardless of location around the country. This year’s AGM is scheduled to take place on Thursday 3rd November 2022 with a start time of 7.30pm. Registration details will be made available on our website www.neurological.org.nz 18