Inside the fee-rebate model that funds Third Link's charitable giving

End of financial year conversations with clients tend to focus on one thing: performance.

Chris Cuffe, founding director and portfolio manager of the Third Link Growth Fund, one of the few dedicated charitable investment funds in Australia, argues that returns and charitable giving do not need to be separate conversations.

How the rebate funds the giving

The fund runs as a fund of funds, allocating across a panel of Australian equity managers. Each underlying manager rebates its management and performance fees back to Third Link instead of keeping them.

That rebate is what funds the giving.

According to Third Link, the fund donates 1 per cent of funds under management to Australian charities each year. That amount is drawn from the fee saving rather than from what investors would otherwise receive. The fund reports it has donated $24.8 million since it started in 2008.

The cost question for Australian charitable investment funds

Third Link points to a hypothetical $100,000 investment made at inception. By 31 May 2026, it says that amount had grown to $391,392. Over the same period, the same investment generated $42,378 for charity. Third Link cites both figures as evidence the structure has not come at the cost of returns.

Those are the fund’s own figures over an 18-year window. They reflect the underlying managers’ performance across that time, which will not repeat the same way every year.

Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance, whatever the fee structure looks like.

Cuffe frames the design as deliberate rather than incidental.

“The fund is designed to align investment success with community impact, allowing investors to pursue long-term returns while supporting philanthropic outcomes.”

Where the donations go

The fund currently donates to three organisations: BackTrack Youth Works, Campbell Page’s Young Mothers Pathway Program and the Foundation for Young Australians. Between them, the causes cover disengaged young people, single mothers moving into stable work and youth-led social initiatives.

Cuffe says the fund’s selection of causes reflects a broader view of what a healthy Australia looks like. “Our donations are made with the knowledge that a prosperous Australia is one where all segments of the population thrive, regardless of background, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, ability or geographic location,” he says.

What advisers should take from this

For advisers with clients weighing values-aligned or philanthropic investment options, understanding how a charitable investment fund works in Australia is the part worth explaining.

This is not a manager donating profits. It is underlying managers redirecting fees they would otherwise keep, and the charitable payment continues only for as long as that arrangement holds.

It is worth presenting to a client as a structural feature, not a return promise, and worth the same scrutiny on manager selection and fees that any active equity allocation gets.