Cornell nets 1.9% fiscal-year return

Cornell University's $7.2 billion endowment returned a net 1.9% for the fiscal year ended June 30, the Ithaca, N.Y.-based university said in a news release.

The return was "in line with its benchmark" for the year, the release said Monday.

The endowment returned an annualized net 5.9% for the three years ended June 30, above the annualized benchmark return of 5.4%. The news release did not provide annualized five- or 10-year return data.

For the fiscal year ended June 30, 2019, Cornell's endowment returned a net 5.3%.

The news release said private equity investments had the highest return for the fiscal year ended June 30, with a net return of 17.8%. The overall equity return, which includes public equities in addition with private equity, was a net 7.4%.

Core fixed income returned a net 9.4%, while enhanced fixed-income investments had a net loss of 4.9% and resources, which was "particularly hard hit by the (COVID-19) pandemic," had a net loss of 14%.

"The environment in the first half of the fiscal year was relatively supportive for the key risk markets in which the university makes long-term investments," Chief Investment Officer Kenneth Miranda said in the news release. "This changed dramatically in the second half, as COVID-19 spread across the globe, exerting an enormous impact on a broad array of industries, asset classes, geographies and markets."

He also said in the news release that the pandemic exposed the continuing weakness of the illiquid portions of its portfolio. He said the university's investment office has already spent the last three years seeking to reduce its illiquid positions.

Cornell spokeswoman Rebecca Valli could not immediately provide further information.