Scottish charities should be more transparent about the management of their investments, according to the head of their new regulatory body.
Jane Ryder, chief executive of the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, told an investment seminar in Edinburgh last week that good practice demanded accountability to stakeholders.
Charities should state their policies on risk, growth and income targets as well as their stance on ethical investment, she said.
"There is room for improvement in practice and in how we present the sector to the public," Ryder told charity trustees at the seminar, which was hosted by Newton Investment Management.
Scottish charities are currently more restricted in their investment choices than their counterparts in England and Wales because the Trustee Act 2000, which allowed charities to take advantage of alternative assets such as property, did not apply to charities north of the border.
