University of Chicago's endowment posts -8.8% return for fiscal year

University of Chicago's endowment returned -8.8% for the fiscal year ended June 30.

Endowment assets fell over the year to $10.3 billion from $11.6 billion the year before, according to an announcement on the university's website.

For the 10 and 20 years ended June 30, the endowment returned an annualized 7.6% and 8.7%, respectively.

The Nov. 18 announcement did not say whether the returns were gross or net of fees and did not provide benchmark information or returns by asset class.

The endowment had returned a net 37.6% for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2021.

For the most recent fiscal year, the university's announcement cited poor equity and fixed-income returns for the overall negative performance.

"Despite this period of volatility, the university's office of investments continued to manage the endowment with a disciplined investment approach," the announcement said.

For the year ended June 30, the Russell 3000 index and Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond index returned -13.9% and -10.3%, respectively, in sharp contrast to returns of 44.2% and 4.6% for the year ended June 30, 2021.

The endowment's return also fell below the median return of -4.2% among the 42 university endowments whose most recent fiscal-year returns have been tracked by Pensions & Investments as of Tuesday.

The endowment's long-term target allocation is 30% global equities, 24% private equity, 22.5% absolute return, 6.5% real estate, 6% fixed income, 5.5% natural resources, 3% private debt, 2% total return investment pool protection and 0.5% cash and equivalents.

University spokesman Gerald McSwiggan could not be immediately reached for further information.