Princeton Endowment Declines 1.7% in Fiscal 2023
Princeton University’s endowment returned negative 1.7% in fiscal 2023, the university announced on Wednesday, continuing a trend of weaker performance by university endowments. The value of Princeton’s endowment as of June 30 stood at $34.1 billion, the fourth largest in the U.S. but down from $35.8 billion one year earlier. It is the endowment’s second consecutive year posting a negative return on the heels of 2021’s record 46.9% return.
The return is the only negative result among the seven Ivy League returns released so far: Columbia University (4.7%), Harvard University (2.9%), Brown University (2.7%), Yale University (1.8%), Dartmouth College (1.6%) and the University of Pennsylvania (1.3%). Cornell University has yet to release its endowment’s 2023 return.
Like many peers, Princeton’s endowment has a large allocation to alternative investments, which did not perform well in the fiscal year that ended on June 30. According to the Princeton University Investment Co., 30% of the portfolio was allocated to private equity and 18% to real assets.
Princeton endowment returns provide roughly two-thirds of the university’s operating revenues, and 70% of the undergraduate financial aid budget is covered by the endowment, according to the university.
For the last 10 years, the Princeton endowment reported an average annual return of 10.8%, and it was 10.5% for the last 20 years. PRINCO CIO Andrew Golden plans to retire in June 2024 after 28 years at the university.
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