Brown and Northwestern endowments turn to secondary markets

Brown and Northwestern universities are repositioning their substantial endowment portfolios by deploying capital into secondary markets, a strategic move that reflects broader institutional appetite for liquidity in private markets. The two universities, through their chief investment officers—Jane Dietze at Brown and Amy Falls at Northwestern—are tapping into secondary markets to manage existing private equity and private credit exposures while accessing a growing pool of available transactions.

Brown University's $8 billion endowment provided concrete evidence of this shift by reducing its position in a Blue Owl private credit fund by more than 50% during the most recent quarter. This transaction exemplifies how large endowments are using secondaries not merely as a liquidity tool but as a strategic rebalancing mechanism, particularly in private credit allocations where concentration risk and illiquidity have become material considerations.

The broader market context supports this strategic reorientation. According to Evercore data, endowments accounted for 10% of the $89 billion in LP-led secondary transaction volume in 2024, an increase from 8% in 2023. This uptick demonstrates that universities which pioneered alternative asset allocations are now refining those strategies through secondary sales, driven by both operational needs and market conditions.

Multiple other university endowments have begun actively exploring secondary market opportunities, signaling this is not an isolated move by Brown and Northwestern but rather a trend among institutional allocators reassessing portfolio concentration and liquidity profiles. The secondary markets have evolved substantially, offering sufficient scale and pricing transparency to accommodate large institutional transactions while providing endowments with optionality on deployment timing and asset selection.