Dive Brief:
- Fiscal 2014 was a good year for investment returns for many college endowments, with Duke University, Yale University, and the University of Minnesota boasting returns of more than 20%.
- Good endowment returns should be expected for the 2013-14 fiscal year — which runs summer to summer for most higher education institutions — given that the Standard & Poor’s 500 stocks were up more than 20%, Insider Higher Ed reported.
- According to the Wilshire Trust Universe Comparison Service, college endowments and other institutional investors should have posted a return of 15.7%, on average.
Dive Insight:
The National Association of College and University Business Officers, or NACUBO, reports its survey of college endowment returns and assets under management in November. For 2012-13, the average college endowment return was nearly 12%, and the year before, it was minus 0.3%. Endowment returns of note, from those that have been reported for 2013-14, include Harvard University at 15.4%; Bowdoin College, Dartmouth University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology each at 19.2%; the University of California at 18.7%; the University of Pennsylvania at 17.5%; and Boston University at 16.7%.