DOCUMENT RESUME HE 029 830 ED 402 887 NACUBO Endowment Study, 1995. TITLE Cambridge Associates, Inc., Boston, MA. INSTITUTION National Association of Coll. and Univ. Business SPONS AGENCY Officers, Washington, D.C. ISSN-1067-8301 REPORT NO PUB DATE Jan 96 476p.; For the 1992 edition, see ED 354 811. NOTE National Association of College and University AVAILABLE FROM Business Officers, One Dupont Circle, Suite 500, Washington, DC 20036 ($60 members; $85 non-members). Reports Statistical Data (110) PUB TYPE Research /Technical (143) MF01/PC20 Plus Postage. EDRS PRICE Colleges; Donors; Educational Finance; *Endowment DESCRIPTORS Funds; Financial Policy; Financial Services; Fiscal Capacity; Higher Education; *Income; Inflation (Economics); *Investment; *Money Management; Private Colleges; Risk Management; *Trusts (Financial); Universities ABSTRACT This report presents the results of the 1995 study of the performance and management of college and university endowments, based on 394 institutions providing data. A summary abstract provides an overview of performance and investment data; and Part 1 of the study provides a brief commentary covering endowment characteristics, historical performance data, and terminology used. The exhibits in Part 2 are divided into two sections. In the first section, 12 exhibits cover general endowment characteristics, including: first, asset values, institution type, ranked by type of institution and by full-time equivalent student, and type of endowment; second, growth (versus market indexes), withdrawals, payout rates, spending rates and rules, and gift flow rates; and third, asset allocation structure. The larger second section of Part 2 provides data on the (2) performance (1) dollars of assets; investment pool including: measures by institution, by institution rank, returns (by various (3) asset allocation measures: nominal, real, average, cumulative); (4) investment management and custodial expenses; structure; (5) investment managers, by institution, and custodians. Appendix A is a glossary of terms; Appendix B defines various standard market indices. Also appended to the report is a list of contributors, sponsors, and associates. A separate formal acknowledgement booklet listing contributors to the study by level of gift accompanies the report. (CH) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ************************************************;,AA******************** 00 00 C> .7t 4 ,Anri: s 1 4 l 7 '4"-,_. .u3' '-' r ., - ..c.o.,-:-... ,..' 3 -..,;:i -..;s?..3 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION ()Mee or Educations' Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) t. his document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction Quality Points of view or opinions stated in this docu- ment do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy THIS "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE BY MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED NACUBO Prepared by Cambridge Associates, Inc. TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES LEST COPY AVAI1LABLE INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC1.' 1995 NACUBO ENDOWMENT STUDY Prepared by Cambridge Associates, Inc. National Association of College and University Business Officers Copyright ©1996 by the National Association of College and University Business Officers One Dupont Circle Washington, DC 20036 All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America ISSN 1067-8301 4 CONTENTS Foreword vii Acknowledgments ix Abstract xi Part I Commentary Discussion of Results 3 Notes on Data 17 Part II Exhibits Endowment Characteristics General Characteristics 1 A Endowment Assets 23 1 B Endowment Assets by Institution Type 24 Institutions Ranked by 1995 Market Value of Endowment Assets 2 25 Endowment Assets per Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) Student 3 37 4 Public Institutions Ranked by Endowment Assets per FTE Student 38 Private Institutions Ranked by Endowment Assets per FTE Student 5 42 True Endowment, Term Endowment, Quasi-Endowment, and Funds 6 Held in Trust 49 Growth Endowment Growth and Market Indexes 7 51 8 A Withdrawals from Endowment 52 8 B Endowment Payout Rates 53 9 A Institutions by Endowment Spending Rule Category 54 9 B Endowment Spending Rules 60 Endowment Gift Flow Rates 10 92 Asset Allocation Endowment Asset Allocation 11 93 Endowment Asset Allocation by Institution 12 94 Investment Pool Characteristics General Characteristics 13 A Investment Pool Assets 107 iv CONTENTS Part II Exhibits (continued) Investment Pool Characteristics (continued) 13 B Investment Pool Assets (June 30) 108 Institutions Grouped by Size of Investment Pool 14 109 Performance Investment Pool Nominal Returns 15 110 Range of Nominal Returns 16 111 17 A Investment Pool Nominal Returns by Institution (June 30) 112 17 B Investment Pool Nominal Returns by Institution (May 31) 126 18 A Investment Pool Average Annual Compound Nominal Returns by Institution (June 30) 128 18 B Investment Pool Average Annual Compound Nominal Returns by Institution (May 31) 142 19 A Investment Pool Cumulative Nominal Returns by Institution (June 30) 144 19 B Investment Pool Cumulative Nominal Returns by Institution (May 31) 158 Institutions Ranked by Investment Pool 20 Average Annual Compound Return 161 Investment Pool Real Returns 21 170 Range of Real Returns 22 171 23 A Investment Pool Real Returns by Institution (June 30) 172 23 B Investment Pool Real Returns by Institution (May 31) 186 24 A Investment Pool Average Annual Compound Real Returns by Institution (June 30) 188 24 B Investment Pool Average Annual Compound Real Returns by Institution (May 31) 202 25 A Investment Pool Cumulative Real Returns by Institution (June 30) 204 25 B Investment Pool Cumulative Real Returns by Institution (May 31) 218 Asset Allocation Investment Pool Asset Allocation 26 220 27 A Asset Allocation by Investment Pool (June 30) 222 27 B Asset Allocation by Investment Pool (May 31) 250 Change in Investment Pool Asset Allocation 28 254 8 v CONTENTS Part II Exhibits (continued) Investment Pool Characteristics (continued) Management Expenses 29 Investment Pool Investment Management Expenses 255 Investment Pool Custodial Expenses 30 256 Managers and Custodians Investment Management Structures by Institution 31 257 Custodians by Institution 32 400 Part III Appendixes Glossary A 427 Descriptions of Market Indexes B 433 Contributors, Sponsors, and Associates 437 Vii Foreword Because skillful endowment management is crucial to the financial well-being of America's colleges and universities, the annual NACUBO Endowment Study (NES) seeks to help administrators and trustees evaluate the performance of their endowments and to acquaint them with the investment policies and practices of other higher education institutions. First published in 1971, the NES was originally based on a prior survey conducted by administrators at Dartmouth College. The earliest editions focused solely on investment performance, but subsequent years have seen the NES expand to include a broad variety of issues of concern to trustees and administrators, including asset allocation, spending rates, and manager and custodial relationships. As the most comprehensive published source of data on college and university endowments, the NES has become the authoritative guide to the investment management practices and trends of these institutions. James E. Morley Jr. President National Association of College and University Business Officers Washington, D.C. January 1996 8 ix Acknowledgments This study was prepared under the direction of NACUBO by Cambridge Associates, Inc. Cambridge Associates provides investment and financial research and consulting services to nonprofit endowed institutions. The firm has offices in Boston, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, and London. NACUBO would like to thank Cambridge Associates for its fine work in preparing this study and in administering the questionnaires on which it is based. NACUBO would also like to acknowledge the financial support provided by the firms identified in this volume and in the recognition booklet. Without their generous contributions, NACUBO could not publish so comprehensive an analysis of endowment management practices. 9 xi Abstract Of the 463 institutions participating in the 1995 NACUBO Endowment Study (NES), 461 report 1. endowment assets, which total $102.5 billion as of fiscal 1995 year-end. These assets remain highly concentrated: 49 institutions (11%) with endowments of $400 million or more represent 62% of the total, and just 17 institutions (less than 4%) with assets in excess of $1 billion represent almost 44% of the total. For fiscal year 1995, the equal-weighted mean total return of the 394 college and university investment 2: pools providing June 30 data for this year's study is 15.5%, dramatically more than the 3.0% earned the previous year. The dollar-weighted mean total return is 16.9% (versus 4.5% last year), and the median, 15.5% (versus 3.0% in 1994). Institutions that reported returns on a gross basis (i.e., before deduction of investment management expenses) earned an average return of 16.0%, while those that reported net returns averaged 15.3%. Because endowment assets are invested predominantly in domestic stocks and bonds, the relative 3. performance among endowment investment pools typically depends primarily on their asset allocation between these two major asset classes. In fiscal year 1995, domestic common stocks returned a rousing 24.7% (as measured by the Wilshire 5000), and domestic bonds rallied from their 1994 slump to return 12.5% (as measured by the Lehman Brothers Aggregate Bond Index). Cash equivalents (91- day U.S. Treasury bills), which had outperformed both stocks and bonds in fiscal 1994, returned 5.6%, while foreign stocks (measured by the MSCI EAFE Index), returned only 1.7% compared to 17.0% the previous year. A higher allocation to cash, which is characteristic of smaller endowments, was therefore a drag on performance in 1995, while the higher equity allocations of the larger endowments enabled them to earn the highest return of any group, despite their having the lowest allocation to domestic common stocks. The average return for those investment pools with assets in excess of $400 million was 16.6%; for those with assets of $100 million to $400 million it was 15.9%; for those with assets of $25 million to $100 million, 15.8%; and for those with assets of $25 million and less, 13.8%. In general, there was very little shift in the average asset allocation from June 30, 1994 to June 30, 4. 1995, although it may be worth noting that larger institutions have been increasing their commitments to equity real estate, profiting from the recovery in that asset class. The largest change in the average allocation of assets the 2.4-percentage-point increase in domestic common stock exposure, is presumably as a result primarily of market action. Despite the wide disparity in returns between domestic and foreign currency common stocks, the average allocation to the latter again increased, although by a much smaller margin than in recent years. Among the largest group of institutions, however, the allocation to foreign stocks declined slightly -- but this is also attributable to the superior performance of domestic common stocks rather than to active asset allocation decisions. The most 10