I am pleased to present my first statement as Chair of The Golden Charter Trust. My predecessor Gareth Howlett retired at the end of the financial year. On behalf of the Board, the Executive team and our stakeholders, we thank Gareth for his sound leadership over the past decade. We also appreciate Clare Brady’s contributions following her retirement at the end of the calendar year and we welcome Karyn Lamont to the Board who was appointed as Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee. Drawing on the expertise of the Board and Executive team, my priorities are to preserve continuity while building on the Trust’s core strengths.
Net asset value at 31 March 2026:
The value of the Trust funds at the financial year ended 31 March 2026 totalled £1.265 billion (£1.209 billion at 31 March 2025). Details on the performance of the Trust’s investment portfolio are given in the Investment Report.
The chart below show how the value of the Trust has grown from 31 March 2022 to 31 March 2026.
Background:
The purposes of The Golden Charter Trust (“the Trust”) are to ingather, hold, invest and administer the Trust funds. The Trust makes payments in accordance with a prescribed list set out in FCA regulation. The most significant payments are to the funeral plan provider, Golden Charter Limited, for such sums as are necessary to enable the Trust to meet the invoice costs of the funeral services provider in order that plan holders receive the funerals for which they have paid, and for the withdrawal of surplus as permitted by the FCA.
The Golden Charter Trust Limited (“Trust Limited”) was incorporated in 2015 to hold the investments and to carry out the investment activity of the Trust. The Trust is the sole shareholder of Trust Limited. The Board of Directors of Trust Limited comprises the serving Trustees of the Trust at any point in time.
The Trust and Trust Limited are independent of Golden Charter Limited. The assets of the Trust and Trust Limited are entirely separate from the assets of Golden Charter Limited.
Regulation:
The FCA commenced regulation of the funeral plan market on 29 July 2022. The plan provider is directly regulated by the FCA. The Golden Charter Trust and Trust Limited are not themselves subject to direct FCA regulation. However, the Trust Deed between Golden Charter Limited and the Trust recognises the FCA rules for trusts used by funeral plan providers.
The FCA rules set out a list of permitted payments from Trusts to funeral plan providers. One of the permitted payments is the payment of surplus to Golden Charter Limited. The payment of surplus is subject to separate rules on the solvency level of the Trust, as determined by the Solvency Assessment Report (“the SAR’’), and must be approved by the independent Actuary appointed by the plan provider.
Golden Charter Limited takes sole responsibility for commissioning an independent actuarial report which estimates the ratio between the Trust’s assets and the costs of the funerals underwritten by it. The latest Solvency Assessment Report is available on the website of Golden Charter Limited.
Any request for payment of surplus must not, in the reasonable opinion of the Trustees, be in breach of any other legal or regulatory obligation applicable to the Trust or the Trustees.
Outlook:
It remains to be seen if the economic consequences of the geopolitical volatility in the Middle East will be prolonged or short-lived. Our policy of diversifying across several asset classes and managers has been in place for some time and has been effective in mitigating the impact of volatile markets on the value of our investment portfolio.
Myriam Madden
Chair
30 June 2026