Columbia endowment returns 5.5% for fiscal year

Columbia University's endowment returned of a net 5.5% for the fiscal year ended June 30, wrote Robert Hornsby, a spokesman for the New York-based university, in an email Tuesday.

The endowment's return was 3.8% for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2019.

The endowment's assets rose to $11.26 billion from $10.95 billion during the previous fiscal year, an increase of 2.8%.

Mr. Hornsby declined to provide a benchmark for the endowment's performance or information on asset allocation and asset category performance.

The endowment's annualized 10-year return was a net 9.1%.

He didn't provide annualized returns for other periods.

"COVID-19 has negatively impacted the financial markets and may continue to materially affect the returns on and value of the university's investments and/or endowment," according to a consolidated financial statement for the 2019 and 2020 fiscal years posted on the university's website.

"Other adverse consequences of COVID-19 or any other similar outbreaks in the future may have a negative effect on the university's various revenue streams," the financial statement said. "The full impact of COVID-19 and the scope of any adverse impact on the university's finances and operations cannot be fully determined at this time."