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Endowments and Foundations

 

An endowment is an investment fund established by a foundation that makes consistent withdrawals from invested capital.

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Major Consideration

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  • May prefer niche manager and strategies

  • Often comfortable being an anchor or cornerstone investor

  • Can make opportunistic investment commitments

  • 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):

  • Private Equity: 30%

  • Venture Capital: 15%

  • Real Estate 10%

  • Natural Resources: 7%

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Largest Endowments and Foundations

 

  1. Ensign Peak Advisors, Utah; AUM – 100Bn

  2. University of Texas, Texas; AUM – 50Bn

  3. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Washington; AUM – 47Bn

  4. Cardinal Health, Ireland; AUM – 41Bn

  5. Harvard Management Company, Massachusetts; AUM – 40Bn

  6. Kaiser Permanente, California; AUM – 40Bn

  7. Wellcome Trust, UK; AUM – 36Bn

  8. Stanford Management Company, California; AUM – 35Bn

  9. Yale University, Connecticut; AUM – 30Bn

  10. Princeton University Investment Company, New Jersey; AUM – 25Bn

 

PreQin 2020

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Articles of Interest​

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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

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