Bloomberg- Yale University, the third-oldest U.S. college, generated its highest annual investment return in seven years, gaining 28 percent as global stock markets, hedge funds and buyout funds soared.
Yale’s assets swelled to $22.5 billion in the 12 months ended June 30, the New Haven, Connecticut, school said in a statement today. The fund, directed by 53-year-old Chief Investment Officer David Swensen, had its best performance since rising 41 percent in fiscal 2000.
Higher-education institutions use endowment income to help pay for scholarships, salaries and buildings. Yale’s fund is expected to turn over $843 million to the Ivy League school this year, contributing 37 percent of its operating revenue. Harvard University, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, earned 23 percent and has the largest education fund, now with $34.9 billion.
“The growth of the endowment allows the university to meet the new challenges of our age and support innovations in teaching and research,” Yale President Richard Levin said in the statement. “Yale’s proven capacity to contribute to our society is enhanced by the additional resources provided by the extraordinary work of our investments office.”
Yale’s gain is the biggest disclosed so far by an elite U.S. institution. Most schools will reveal their performance in the next few months. The University of Notre Dame, in South Bend, Indiana, said it gained 25.9 percent; the University of Virginia, in Charlottesville, 25 percent; and Dartmouth College, in Hanover, New Hampshire, 24.3 percent.
