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Asset Allocation

University of Pennsylvania Endowment Returns 7.1%

Assets of the fund increased to $22.3 billion as of June 30.
By Matt Toledo



The University of Pennsylvania’s Office of Investments, the entity which manages the university endowment, announced Monday that it achieved a 7.1% return in fiscal 2024.

Assets of the fund, primarily comprised of the Associated Investments Fund, increased by $1.4 billion to $22.3 billion at the end of June, under CIO Peter Ammon, formerly of Yale University. 

Like many of its peer Ivy League endowments, Penn has adopted the Yale model, which includes larger allocations to alternative investments like private equity. For many endowments, this model has resulted in outperformance in the long term; however, these endowments had muted returns in the two previous fiscal years.

Of its Ivy League peers, Penn’s endowment had the second lowest return in fiscal 2023 at 1.3%, above Princeton’s negative 1.7% return. In fiscal 2022, the endowment’s return was flat at exactly 0%.

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Penn’s returns trail its Ivy League peers who have reported their endowment returns for fiscal 2024. Brown University’s endowment reported an 11.3% return, Columbia returned 11.5%, and Dartmouth returned 8.4%.

According to Penn’s annual report, the endowment allocated 34.7% of its assets to private equity, 12.8% to equities, 19.2% to absolute return, 11.5% to real assets, 5.4% to debt securities and 4.4% to cash and cash equivalents.

The endowment has returned an annualized 2.7%, 9.6%, 8.7% and 8.4% over the past three-, five-, 10- and 20-year periods, respectively.

Approximately $17.6 billion of the endowment represents assets that support the university, while the remaining $4.8 billion represents assets that support the University of Pennsylvania Health System. 

The endowment provides Penn with 19% of the university’s academic budget, and it distributed $1.1 billion in fiscal 2024 to support university operations. The endowment has distributed $6.7 billion to the university over the past decade.

Related Stories:

MIT Announces Endowment Performance, Returns 8.9% in Fiscal 2024

Duke Endowment Returns 8.0% in Fiscal 2024

Brown University Endowment Returns 11.3% in Fiscal 2024

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Home > News > Asset Allocation > UK Infrastructure Bank to Become National Wealth Fund in Domestic Infrastructure Push
Asset Allocation

UK Infrastructure Bank to Become National Wealth Fund in Domestic Infrastructure Push

The plan to create a £27.8 billion sovereign fund moves forward.
By Matt Toledo



The U.K. Infrastructure Bank will become the National Wealth Fund, a 27.8-billion-pound ($36.29 billion) entity which will make domestic infrastructure investments, U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves announced Monday.  

“When we said we would end instability, make growth our national mission and enter a true partnership with business we meant it,” Reeves said in a statement. “The decisions which lie ahead of us will not always be easy. But by taking the right choices to grow our economy and drive investment we will create good jobs and new opportunities across every part of the country. That is the Britain we are building.” 

The fund will make domestic energy transition and infrastructure investments in strategic sectors such as green steel, green hydrogen, industrial decarbonization, ports and battery gigafactories. 

“The NWF creates an opportunity for simplification and scale. The challenge now is to ensure it delivers private capital at the pace we need, through innovative risk-sharing transactions in new technologies,” Rhian-Mari Thomas, CEO of the Green Finance Institute, an organization advising the NWF, said in a statement.  

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Planning for the national wealth fund began in July following the election of the Labor government, which began drafting plans for the fund in March. Originally, plans were to merge the British Business Bank with the UKIB, however, the BBB will instead make its own investments alongside private capital. 

Jonathan Reynolds, secretary of state for business and trade, also announced Monday the British Growth Partnership, an initiative for institutional investors to invest alongside the BBB  

“Today’s announcement is a strong endorsement of the British Business Bank’s 10-year track record, market access and capabilities,” Reynolds said in a statement. “By establishing the British Growth Partnership, the Bank will encourage more U.K. pension fund investment into the U.K.’s fastest growing, most innovative companies.”  

Related Stories: 

UK Takes First Steps Toward Sovereign Wealth Fund 

Ireland’s Department of Finance Begins Setting Up 2 Sovereign Wealth Funds 

Sovereign Wealth Funds Shift Into More Tech and Green Energy 

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