U.S. endowments had an average annual investment return of 2.9% for the year ended June 30, compared with a 5.9% loss for the same period a year earlier, according to a Commonfund Institute study. Institutions with less than $10 million in assets returned an average of 4.7%, while those with more than $1 billion in assets returned an average of 2.3%.
The survey also found that 51% of endowments changed their allocations over the past year; domestic equities were up to 50% of total assets, from 47%; and fixed income and international equity were unchanged at 29% and 10%, respectively. Alternative assets, including hedge funds, were down to 11% from 15%, according to Commonfund.
The web-based survey polled 122 educational institutions.
