Endowments and Foundations
An endowment is an investment fund established by a foundation that makes consistent withdrawals from invested capital.
Major Consideration
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May prefer niche manager and strategies
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Often comfortable being an anchor or cornerstone investor
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Can make opportunistic investment commitments
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Can have a long due-diligence process
Typical Allocation
Often Endowments have dedicated investment teams that can be fast moving and invest in niche strategies. A large portion of endowments invest on behalf of universities and may have investment policies that match the ideology of its student body.
Alternative Asset Breakdown (% of total AUM):
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Private Equity: 30%
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Venture Capital: 15%
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Real Estate 10%
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Natural Resources: 7%
Largest Endowments and Foundations
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Ensign Peak Advisors, Utah; AUM – 100Bn
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University of Texas, Texas; AUM – 50Bn
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Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Washington; AUM – 47Bn
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Cardinal Health, Ireland; AUM – 41Bn
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Harvard Management Company, Massachusetts; AUM – 40Bn
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Kaiser Permanente, California; AUM – 40Bn
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Wellcome Trust, UK; AUM – 36Bn
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Stanford Management Company, California; AUM – 35Bn
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Yale University, Connecticut; AUM – 30Bn
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Princeton University Investment Company, New Jersey; AUM – 25Bn
PreQin 2020
Articles of Interest
HARVARD ENDOWMENT IS DOUBLING DOWN ON PRIVATE EQUITY; Barrons
A LOOK INSIDE YALE ENDOWMENT’S ASSET ALLOCATION; Financial Samurai
ROCKEFELLER BROTHERS FUND PROFITS FROM DIVESTING FOSSIL FUELS; Barrons