Key Takeaways
- • Dartmouth College's endowment delivered an 8.4% return in fiscal 2024 (ended June 30), growing assets to $8.3 billion and distributing $430 million to the college's operating budget.
- • The endowment's long-term annualized returns stood at 10.9% (5-year), 9.4% (10-year), and 9.5% (20-year), demonstrating consistent performance despite near-term volatility.
- • The 8.4% return represents a significant recovery from fiscal 2023's 1.6% performance, when Dartmouth ranked 53rd among 62 mega endowments due to weakness in private equity and venture capital allocations.
- • As of fiscal 2023, Dartmouth's portfolio allocation was heavily weighted toward private markets: 40% private equity and venture capital, 24% hedge funds, 21% equities, 10% real assets, and 5% cash.
- • Dartmouth ranked fifth among eight Ivy League institutions in fiscal 2024, trailing Brown (12.7% in FY2023) but outperforming peers including Princeton, Penn, and Columbia during recent reporting periods.
Summary
Dartmouth College's endowment rebounded to solid performance in fiscal 2024 with an 8.4% return, bringing the fund's total assets to $8.3 billion as of June 30. The endowment distributed nearly $430 million to support the college's operating budget during the fiscal year. This marks a meaningful recovery from fiscal 2023's underperformance, when Dartmouth's 1.6% return ranked 53rd among 62 mega endowments tracked by NEPC LLC—a period when private markets, a core allocation for elite institutional investors, struggled broadly across the industry.
Dartmouth's investment office announced the fiscal 2024 results with emphasis on long-term performance stability. The endowment's annualized returns over five, 10, and 20 years stood at 10.9%, 9.4%, and 9.5%, respectively, underscoring the resilience of its investment strategy across multiple market cycles. President Sian Leah Beilock noted the significance of the talented investment team's ability to generate "sustainable long-term returns that not only benefit Dartmouth community members today, but ensure that future generations will have access to the same world class education, resources, and transformative experiences."
Among Ivy League peers, Dartmouth's fiscal 2024 performance positioned it competitively, though not at the top tier. Brown University led with 12.7% returns in fiscal 2023, while Columbia achieved 4.7%. Princeton experienced a decline of 1.7%, and Penn returned 1.3%, placing Dartmouth's 8.4% in the upper-middle range of the Ivy cohort. The endowment's portfolio structure, as documented at fiscal 2023 year-end, reflects the aggressive positioning typical of mega endowments: 40% allocated to private equity and venture capital, 24% to hedge funds, 21% to public equities, 10% to real assets, and 5% to cash. Despite headwinds in 2022 and 2023, private markets have historically outperformed most alternative asset classes on a long-term basis, supporting the strategic rationale for maintaining elevated allocations to less liquid investment categories.
Dartmouth's investment office announced the fiscal 2024 results with emphasis on long-term performance stability. The endowment's annualized returns over five, 10, and 20 years stood at 10.9%, 9.4%, and 9.5%, respectively, underscoring the resilience of its investment strategy across multiple market cycles. President Sian Leah Beilock noted the significance of the talented investment team's ability to generate "sustainable long-term returns that not only benefit Dartmouth community members today, but ensure that future generations will have access to the same world class education, resources, and transformative experiences."
Among Ivy League peers, Dartmouth's fiscal 2024 performance positioned it competitively, though not at the top tier. Brown University led with 12.7% returns in fiscal 2023, while Columbia achieved 4.7%. Princeton experienced a decline of 1.7%, and Penn returned 1.3%, placing Dartmouth's 8.4% in the upper-middle range of the Ivy cohort. The endowment's portfolio structure, as documented at fiscal 2023 year-end, reflects the aggressive positioning typical of mega endowments: 40% allocated to private equity and venture capital, 24% to hedge funds, 21% to public equities, 10% to real assets, and 5% to cash. Despite headwinds in 2022 and 2023, private markets have historically outperformed most alternative asset classes on a long-term basis, supporting the strategic rationale for maintaining elevated allocations to less liquid investment categories.
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