Cornell University's endowment posts 41.9% return

Cornell University's $10 billion endowment returned 41.9% for the fiscal year ended June 30.

The return well exceeded its benchmark of 26.9% for the period and was the largest in 35 years, the Ithaca, N.Y.-based university said in a news release Thursday.

For the five years ended June 30, the endowment reported an annualized return of 13.6%, "substantially exceeding Cornell's broad markets-based benchmarks," the news release said.

The endowment had returned a net 1.9% for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2020.

For the most recent fiscal year, six of the endowment's eight asset classes outperformed their benchmarks, the news release said. Three asset classes outperformed their benchmarks by more than 10 percentage points.

The news release did not disclose whether the new fiscal year returns were gross or net of fees and did not provide further information on the asset classes.

In the news release, Kenneth Miranda, chief investment officer, cited a unique constellation of events for the extraordinary year, including the recovery of markets from the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, bolstered by U.S. monetary and fiscal-year policy.

"We have a multiyear, almost infinite time horizon, and this money must be stewarded over generations of Cornell students, faculty, staff and research goals, through bull markets and bear markets," Mr. Miranda said in the news release.

Rebecca Valli, Cornell spokeswoman, could not be immediately reached for further information.