Development Fund

 
 
 

Preparing for our future

I am pleased to provide our Development Fund Board Annual Report for 2024/25.  

Dev Fund purpose

The Development Fund was established pursuant to an amendment made to the Club’s Constitution and the election of its first board at the 2021 AGM. 

The purpose of the Development Fund Board is to protect the long-term financial viability of the Club by investing in or purchasing capital assets in order to: 

1.       Maximise returns and grow assets 

2.       Maintain financial strength; and 

3.       Retain financial flexibility. 

Clause 44 of the Club’s Constitution provides that the funds held by the Development Fund can be used for: 

  1. Purchases of land; 

  2. The development or redevelopment of land owned by the Association; 

  3. Purchase and trading of publicly listed shares; 

  4. Investments which a trustee is authorised to invest in pursuant to the provisions of the Trustee Act 1958; 

  5. Replacement, extension or major structural renovation of or to the club house; 

  6. For any purpose agreed to by the Development Fund Board and the Board that supports the strategic purposes of the Club.  

Dev Fund Board members

The current members of the Board are:

  • Kevin Pidgeon (Life Member holding Life Governor’s position) 

  • Grant Edmunds  (Club Secretary/ Director of Administration and Finance)   

  • Georgie Wettenhall (Life Member)

  • Andrew Crow (Ordinary Member)

  • Neil Hannan (Ordinary Member and Chair of Development Fund Board) 

In addition our adviser is Bernd Neubauer (Financial Adviser)  

During the year our new Life Governor member, Alan Lawry unfortunately passed away. This created a casual vacancy in the Development Fund’s Board. None of the three remaining Life Governors wished to fill the role. Pursuant to the amendments made to the Club’s Constitution at the last AGM in such circumstances that role can now be filled by a Life Member. The only Life Member to nominate was Kevin Pidgeon, who was appointed by the Development Fund Board to fill the position. Kevin is standing for re-election at the Annual General Meeting in accordance with the terms of the Constitution. 

 In addition, as a result of the cessation of Christian Born as the Director of Administration and Finance he was replaced by Grant Edmunds following his appointment to that position.  

 I would like to thank all of the above persons for their time, knowledge and input throughout this year. 

Investment Framework 

 The Development Fund has previously adopted the following investment framework: 

Funds under investment 

In March 2025, the Club’s Board transferred an additional sum of $125,500. Following receipt of this money the Development Fund Board met in early April and decided not to invest that money into the stockmarket at that time due to the high volatility in the market caused by the imposition of recent USA government policies. The Board will be meeting again at the end of June to review this position. In the meantime the money is being held in the Board’s ANZ Bank account. 

The funds managed by the Development Fund Board were invested as at 30 April 2025 as follows: 

The increase in units in some stocks is due to being able to obtain dividend reinvestment with those stocks. 

Future Funds 

In addition to the Club transferring excess funds to the Development Fund for investment , there is now the opportunity for members or donors to contribute directly to the Development Fund via the club’s website or by nominating the Development Fund when making a donation. To date no direct donations have been received. The Board will be looking to explore this issue further over the coming year. 

Development Fund Board Rotation 

I will be retiring from the Development Fund Board by rotation and seeking re-election.  As indicated above Kevin Pigeon will also be seeking election to fill the Life Governor position (assuming no Life Governor nominates). 

Neil Hannan

Chair

 
Woolamai Beach SLSC