University of Chicago Endowment Returns 8.4% in Fiscal 2024

The gain raised the portfolio’s asset value to $10.4 billion, still trailing its $11 billion high from 2021.




The University of Chicago’s endowment returned 8.4% for the fiscal year that ended June 30 to raise its total asset value to $10.4 billion, up from $10 billion a year earlier.

It was the endowment’s highest investment return since fiscal 2021, when it raked in a 37.6% return. However, its current asset value remains below the $11 billion reported that year due to an 8.8% investment loss in 2022, followed by a modest 3.3% gain in fiscal 2023. The endowment also reported 15- and 20-year annualized returns of 8.6% and 8.2%, respectively.

The university did not disclose its asset allocation nor performance by asset class.

According to the University of Chicago, the endowment is primarily invested in a total return investment pool. The pool’s portfolio is diversified among several asset classes, as well as by sector, geography, liquidity terms and investment instruments. According to the university, the pool’s main objective is to maintain the endowment’s real purchasing power, net of inflation and spending. It also reported that the portfolio’s strategy is to seek out higher returns without exceeding its risk and illiquidity tolerances, based on the school’s financial position.

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Without disclosing the specifics of the endowment’s asset allocation, the university reported the pool’s long-term plan invests in growth, inflation sensitive, diversifying and defensive assets, which include global stocks and bonds, real estate, natural resources, private equity and absolute return strategies. The total return investment pool’s strategic asset allocation targets 50% exposure to private investments.

The endowment’s long-term target allocation for its portfolio is 30% global equities, 24% private equity, 22.5% absolute return, 6.5% real estate, 6% fixed income, 5.5% natural resources, 3% private debt, 2% total return investment pool protection and 0.5% cash and equivalents.

Investment management firm Charles Skorina & Co. reported that the University of Chicago endowment’s 10-year annualized return was 7.30% as of the end of fiscal 2023, which ranked it 92nd among university endowments with more than $1 billion in assets.


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PBGC Provides Financial Assistance to Pressroom Union Plan

The Graphic Communications International Union Pressroom Unions’ Pension Plan will receive $63.7 million from the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.



The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation
announced Monday that it will provide $63.7 million under the Special Financial Assistance Program to the Graphic Communications International Union Pressroom Unions’ Pension Plan.  

The PBGC, under the SFA Program, provides financial assistance to distressed pension funds on the brink of insolvency. Without the financial assistance, the New York City-based GCIU plan was expected to become insolvent in 2031. According to the PBGC, the plan has 1,344 participants, who primarily work in the printing industry. 

The SFA Program was enacted in 2021 as part of the American Rescue Plan Act. As of December 9, the PBGC has approved $69.8 billion in SFA funds to 103 pension funds that represent 1.2 million beneficiaries. 

The PBGC, since the inception of the SFA Program, has granted $3.4 billion in financial assistance to nine plans in the graphic communications industry, covering 87,000 workers. 

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“Millions of people work for years, looking forward to the day when the promise of a secure, dignified retirement is kept,” said Julie A. Su, acting secretary of labor, in a statement. “Today, the Biden-Harris administration is delivering on that promise for 1,344 workers by providing Special Financial Assistance in the Graphic Communications International Union Pressroom Unions’ Pension Plan that ensures they can retire with the dignity they deserve.” 

Pension funds that receive assistance must monitor the interest resulting from the grant money as separate from other sources of funding. The PBGC requires that at least two-thirds of the money it provides be invested in “high-quality fixed income investments.” The Final Rule on Special Financial Assistance, issued in July 2022, states that the other third can be invested in “return-seeking investments,” such as stocks and stock funds. 

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