Hedge fund manager Chris Hohn’s charity has continued its huge growth, entering the top 10 of the Charity 100 Index for the first time.

The Children’s Investment Fund Foundation now sits at number nine in the rankings of the UK’s largest charities, which are calculated by taking an average of each organisation’s last three annual accounts.

It reached its new average of £202.1m after year end August 2007 accounts revealed its income had grown to £324.4m, up from £230.4m the previous year.

This rise helped CIFF, which was created by Hohn as a vehicle for distributing the profits of his hedge fund The Children's Investment Fund (TCI), to move up 20 places in the rankings.

Run by Hohn’s Wife Jamie Cooper-Hohn, CIFF’s activities include membership of a consortium of funders helping to provide support services for children with HIV/Aids in Malawi, and another collaborative effort for Aids-affected families in Andhra Pradesh in India with the likes of the Clinton Foundation and Care International.

Nuffield stays top

The longstanding leader of the rankings is Nuffield Health, which retained its position with an average income of £503.8m, the first time its three-year average has breached the half-billion mark.

Despite this Cancer Research UK closed the gap in second place for the second year running with an average income of £455.9m, while the National Trust was third on £357.7m.

Elsewhere in the top 10, British Red Cross moved up two places to number six, with an average income of £222.8m taking it above Action for Children and the Salvation Army.

Charity Index membership is reviewed every spring to reflect income fluctuations, new charities or ones it had not previously been possible to obtain accounts for.