For the most recent fiscal year, the endowment had the highest return among the 24 college and university endowments whose returns for the period have been tracked by Pensions & Investments as of Oct. 19. The median return among those endowments is 4.4%.
"Our performance relative to our benchmark was driven by positive results in multiple asset classes, with all major categories outpacing their respective benchmarks, save for fixed income," said Neale in the report. "Of note, our U.S. public equity outpaced the benchmark by 50 basis points; non-U.S. public equity outperformed its benchmark by 130 basis points; and private investments outperformed its blended benchmark return by more than 600 basis points. At nearly one-quarter of the portfolio, the outperformance of private investments was a strong contributor to our overall performance. Finally, though multi-asset credit is a modest 6% of our allocation, it outperformed its benchmark by more than 200 basis points."
The report did not provide specific return data for the asset classes.
As of June 30, the endowment's actual allocation was 57.7% public equities, 23.8% private investments, 7.7% real assets, 5.9% multiasset credit, 4% transition to equity and private investments, 0.8% cash/fixed income and 0.1% hedge funds.
