Endowments & Foundations

Slipping credit outlooks for Brown and Columbia reflect monetary constraints on top-tier higher education, and endowments are ill-prepared to help.

AI development represents “the biggest technological revolution at the fastest pace” in history.

Cynosure Capital Management, its new outsourced chief investment officer, is founded by members of one of the state’s richest families.

The University of Utah will partner with PE firm Otro Capital to form a new for-profit company to handle its athletic department’s finances.

See investment returns for the 50 largest university endowments in the US.

Harvard donors contributed over $600 million to the university in 2025, the highest total in the school’s history.

Stanford Management Company distributed $1.9 billion to support academic programs, financial aid, faculty salaries and research—almost double what it disbursed to support university operations a decade ago.

Here’s what to expect.

The final excise tax on endowment investment income is a welcome relief for institutions under pressure from low distributions and funding cuts.

The threat may influence university endowments to slow allocations.

The Trump administration has reportedly asked the IRS to revoke the university’s tax-exempt status. If successful, the move would tamp donations to its $53.2 billion endowment.

Endowments look to liquidate hedge fund commitments amid Trump administration’s funding pullback and the threat of a tax rate hike.

The California Institute of Technology has chosen Ken Lee as its new chief investment officer.

Commonfund’s $16 billion outsourced CIO solutions business appointed former Tulane investor Julia Mord as its chief investor.

Michael Barry, the current CIO at Georgetown University’s endowment and retirement plan, will join JHU as chief investment officer and vice president of investments in February.

From chief investment officer departures and appointments to an axing of an entire board of trustees, the past year has been marked by tectonic shifts at some of the world’s largest LPs.

Yale University’s endwoment returned 5.7% for the 2024 fiscal year.

Harvard University’s FY 2024 endowment returns came in just below Columbia and Brown’s figures.