Helen Macpherson Smith Trust

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Catherine Walter AM appointed trustee to HMSTrust

Catherine Walter AM joins the Helen Macpherson Smith Trust’s Board of Trustees, commencing 18 September 2014.

“It is my great pleasure to welcome Catherine Walter to our Board of Trustees, which oversees and guides the Trust’s investment, management and grant making.” Dr Philip Moors, Chairman of Trustees, said. “HMSTrust is one of Victoria’s major philanthropic trusts having distributed over 4,500 grants to Victorian charitable institutions since 1955, totalling $105 million. Under the astute stewardship of my predecessor Darvell Hutchinson, the Trust has grown from an initial bequest of £275,000 in 1951 to a net worth over $100 million.”

Catherine Walter brings substantial experience and expertise in investment and corporate governance having been a company director for more than 20 years. She is the current chair of Federation Square and is a director of the Reserve Bank’s Payment Systems Board, Australian Foundation Investment Company, Victorian Funds Management, Walter & Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, VicForests and Victorian Opera.

A former Managing Partner with Clayton Utz, Ms Walter has previously held directorships in a range of listed, government and not-for-profit enterprises including: ASX, National Australia Bank, Orica, Melbourne Business School and Australian Ballet School. As well, she is a past Chairman of Australian Synchrotron and Equipsuper, and a past Commissioner of the City of Melbourne.

In 2003 Catherine Walter was honoured as a Member of The Order of Australia for service to business, particularly as a director of a range of public companies, to the arts, to the law, and to the community through the Melbourne City Council.

“As a long-time admirer of the Helen Macpherson Smith Trust, I am delighted to be appointed a Trustee.” Ms Walter said. “I have great respect for the life and vision of our benefactress. Helen must have been an extraordinary woman. A philanthropist in her own right, she had the wisdom to engage the best legal and accounting advisers of the day setting in place a legacy that impacts on the lives of so many Victorians. I have even greater respect for the remarkable stewardship of the Trust which has turned Helen’s vision into a powerful resource for social good. I very much look forward to working with my fellow trustees and the management team to ensure that Helen’s legacy continues to grow for the benefit of generations of Victorians.”