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Columbia Endowment Reports 9.0% Return for 2018

Investment gains were lowest among any Ivy League endowment.

By Michael Katz

Columbia University endowment’s investment portfolio returned 9% in fiscal year 2018, down from 13.7% in 2017, and below that of any other Ivy League school endowment this year. The total value of the endowment rose to $10.9 billion as of the end of June, up from just under $10 billion at the same time last year.

Columbia was the last of the Ivy League schools to report fiscal 2018 returns, and despite having the third-highest among them last year, was last behind Princeton’s 14.2%, Brown’s 13.2%, University of Pennsylvania’s 12.9%, Dartmouth’s 12.2%, Yale’s 12.3%, Cornell’s 10.6%, and Harvard’s 10%.

However, the endowment was still ahead of Cambridge Associates’ median return of 8.3% for colleges and universities. It also reported 10-year annualized returns of 8%.

Columbia University’s endowment consists of approximately 5,500 separate funds established over time for a wide variety of purposes. It includes permanent endowments, term endowments, and funds designated by the board of trustees to function as endowments. Its investments are managed by The Columbia Investment Management Co., which is a wholly owned subsidiary of the university, and is run by CEO Peter Holland and CIO Tim Donohue.

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Although Columbia Investment Management Co. doesn’t provide details on asset allocation, according to the university’s 2018 financial report, the endowment’s investment strategy is intended to produce performance that exceeds each asset class’ relevant indices while assuming a moderate level of investment risk.

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Home > News > Newsmakers > Australian, British Pension Players Join Canadian Retirement Manager in UK Port Deal
Newsmakers

Australian, British Pension Players Join Canadian Retirement Manager in UK Port Deal

PSP Investments sells minority stakes in Forth Ports to Cbus, First State Super, and GLIL. 

By Chris Butera

Australia’s Cbus ($46 billion) and First State Super ($70 billion), along with Britain’s GLIL Infrastructure ($1.7 billion), have each bought minority stakes in UK-based Forth Ports from Canada’s Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP).

PSP remains the majority owner of Forth, which runs ports in the UK. The deal with the two Australian and the British pension entities follows PSP’s purchase last week of Arcus European Infrastructure Fund 1’s position in Forth Ports. PSP said it sought to team with other long-term investors interested in supporting the commercial ports business. Enter the three other institutional players.

For Cbus, the investment is the Australian superannuation fund’s first direct offshore infrastructure investment. A superannuation supplements government-backed pensions. Cbus covers the building and construction sectors. First State started out to benefit just New South Wales government employees but now is open to all Australians. GLIL is an investment vehicle for the London, Manchester, and other public pension funds.

PSP Investments, one of Canada’s largest pension managers, had $153 billion in net assets under management as of March 31.

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Forth Ports owns and operates eight commercial ports in the UK. PSP has been investing in the business since 2011.

Patrick Samson, PSP’s managing director and head of infrastructure investments, said he is looking forward to partnering with the two Australian supers and the UK infrastructure business following the Arcus stake acquisition. “We will continue to own a majority of Forth Ports, which will form a core part of our UK infrastructure investments portfolio,” Samson said.

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