University of Chicago Endowment Returns 8.4% in Fiscal 2024

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.