Home > News > Research > MIT Endowment Soars to $14.8 Billion in Fiscal 2017
Research

MIT Endowment Soars to $14.8 Billion in Fiscal 2017

Fund up 12.5% from previous year.

By Chris Butera

It was a healthy year for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) endowment, which returned 14.3% in the fiscal year ended June 30, growing the fund to $14.8 billion, excluding pledges.

According to a report from MIT’s treasurer, the endowment fund was up 12.5% compared to the previous year, which totaled $13.2 billion. In the previous fiscal year, the endowment returned 0.8%. The endowment fund is the largest component of MIT’s total investments.

Long-term benchmarks and returns were not provided.

As of June 30, the MIT Investment Management Company (MITIMCo), which oversees the investment of the institution’s endowment, retirement, and operating funds, had $23.3 billion of assets under management. MIT has the sixth-largest endowment of any school in the US.

Want the latest institutional investment industry
news and insights? Sign up for CIO newsletters.

“We begin fiscal 2018 with the financial strength to enable MIT’s core mission, the flexibility to pursue strategic initiatives, and the resiliency to respond to economic uncertainty amid pressure on federal research funding and volatile global events,” Israel Ruiz, executive vice president and treasurer, said in the treasurer’s report. “The Institute’s ability to successfully steward MIT’s future will be further strengthened by the Campaign for a Better World.”

Tags: , , ,

Home > News > Newsmakers > Tokyo Exchange to List ESG ETFs
Newsmakers

Tokyo Exchange to List ESG ETFs

Socially responsible funds will begin trading Sept. 26.

By Chris Butera

The Japan Exchange Group has approved the listing of three socially responsible exchange-traded funds (ETFs) created by Daiwa Asset Management on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

The ETFs, which will be listed on Sept. 26, are the Daiwa ETF MSCI Japan Empowering Women Index, the Daiwa ETF MSCI Japan ESG Select Leaders Index, and Daiwa ETF FTSE Blossom Japan Index.

The Empowering Women Index ETF is tied to The MSCI Japan Empowering Women Index, which aims to represent the performance of companies that are leading within their sector groups in terms of promoting and maintaining gender diversity, while also meeting certain quality criteria. According to MSCI, companies that promote and maintain gender diversity among their workforce may be better able to ride out talent shortages and generate more sustainable performance with reduced risk.

The ESG Select Leaders Index ETF is intended to represent the performance of companies that have high environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance. The index seeks to target sector weights that reflect the relative sector weights of the MSCI Japan IMI Top 500 Index, which is intended to limit the risk introduced by the ESG selection process. The index targets coverage of 50% of the parent index, the MSCI Japan IMI Top 500 Index.

For more stories like this, sign up for the CIO Alert newsletter.

The FTSE Blossom Japan Index is designed to help identify and measure the performance of Japanese companies that demonstrate strong ESG practices. The index is constructed to be industry-neutral, and uses the FTSE4Good Index Inclusion Rules, which are based on existing international standards, such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

ESG-related funds and investing strategies have become increasingly popular. According to a survey from BNP Paribas Securities Services, nearly 80% of asset managers and owners incorporate ESG factors into their decision-making. And in July, Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF), the world’s largest pension fund, said it would move approximately $8.8 billion, or 3% of its passive domestic equity investments, into ESG indices.

Tags: , , , ,

«