Key Takeaways
- • Dakota Marketplace ranks the ten largest endowments and foundations worldwide, with assets ranging from $38B (Wellcome Trust) to $180B (UC Regents), per the publisher's data.
- • Ranking leaders are UC Regents at $180B, Novo Holdings at $167B, and Ensign Peak Advisors at $124B, followed by the Novo Nordisk Foundation at $94B and the Gates Foundation Trust at $75B.
- • Endowments and foundations run the highest alternatives allocations in institutional investing, with large university endowments typically holding 50-80% in illiquid strategies.
- • Ticket sizes cited include $100M per commitment at UC Regents and Harvard Management Company, $65M for UTIMCO private equity, and $50M at Stanford, Yale and Wellcome.
- • Decision timelines for new manager relationships run 6-12 months at UC Regents and 6-9 months at UTIMCO, and access is relationship-driven at most of the listed funds.
Summary
Dakota Marketplace has published a ranking of the ten largest endowments and foundations in the world, using data from its global LP and GP intelligence platform. According to the publisher, the ten funds range from $38 billion to over $160 billion, and university endowments and large private foundations collectively manage well over $1 trillion.
The list is led by the University of California Regents at $180 billion, followed by Novo Holdings at $167 billion, Ensign Peak Advisors at $124 billion, the Novo Nordisk Foundation at $94 billion, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Trust at $75 billion, UTIMCO at $75 billion, Harvard Management Company at $63 billion, Stanford Management Company at $41 billion, Yale Investments Office at $41 billion, and the Wellcome Trust at $38 billion. The publisher notes that the Harvard and Yale endowment models, heavy in private equity, venture capital, real assets and hedge funds, have been widely copied for three decades.
The article highlights structural differences between endowments and pension or sovereign funds. Endowments have no fixed liabilities and their main constraint is generating returns to support spending policies, typically 4-5% of assets annually. The largest endowments routinely hold 60-80% in illiquid strategies, which the publisher describes as making them ideal but demanding limited partners. Alternatives allocations are cited as typically 50-70% for university endowments and 30-50% for foundations.
Fund-level details vary. UTIMCO is described as one of the more institutionally accessible large endowments, with private equity tickets averaging $65 million. Harvard Management Company, under CEO Narv Narvekar and CIO Rick Slocum, has moved to a fully external manager model, with public equities reportedly around 14% of the portfolio and bonds and TIPS roughly 3-4%. Yale, whose office was led by David Swensen from 1985 until his death in 2021 and is now run by CIO Matt Mendelsohn, reportedly keeps public equity under 15%. Ensign Peak, the investment arm of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, became publicly visible in 2023 through SEC disclosures, and the article names Jeff Porter, Michael Connors and Matthew Dall as team members. At the Gates Foundation, investments are managed by Michael Larson through Cascade Investment LLC. The Novo Nordisk Foundation's investable pool sits within Novo Holdings, and Søren Nedergaard is listed as Chief Portfolio Officer.
The publisher's commentary emphasizes that most of these funds are relationship-driven, with selective processes and, for several, a preference for co-investment alongside fund commitments. The article is promotional for Dakota Marketplace, which tracks more than 10,000 institutional investor accounts outside the United States.
The list is led by the University of California Regents at $180 billion, followed by Novo Holdings at $167 billion, Ensign Peak Advisors at $124 billion, the Novo Nordisk Foundation at $94 billion, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Trust at $75 billion, UTIMCO at $75 billion, Harvard Management Company at $63 billion, Stanford Management Company at $41 billion, Yale Investments Office at $41 billion, and the Wellcome Trust at $38 billion. The publisher notes that the Harvard and Yale endowment models, heavy in private equity, venture capital, real assets and hedge funds, have been widely copied for three decades.
The article highlights structural differences between endowments and pension or sovereign funds. Endowments have no fixed liabilities and their main constraint is generating returns to support spending policies, typically 4-5% of assets annually. The largest endowments routinely hold 60-80% in illiquid strategies, which the publisher describes as making them ideal but demanding limited partners. Alternatives allocations are cited as typically 50-70% for university endowments and 30-50% for foundations.
Fund-level details vary. UTIMCO is described as one of the more institutionally accessible large endowments, with private equity tickets averaging $65 million. Harvard Management Company, under CEO Narv Narvekar and CIO Rick Slocum, has moved to a fully external manager model, with public equities reportedly around 14% of the portfolio and bonds and TIPS roughly 3-4%. Yale, whose office was led by David Swensen from 1985 until his death in 2021 and is now run by CIO Matt Mendelsohn, reportedly keeps public equity under 15%. Ensign Peak, the investment arm of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, became publicly visible in 2023 through SEC disclosures, and the article names Jeff Porter, Michael Connors and Matthew Dall as team members. At the Gates Foundation, investments are managed by Michael Larson through Cascade Investment LLC. The Novo Nordisk Foundation's investable pool sits within Novo Holdings, and Søren Nedergaard is listed as Chief Portfolio Officer.
The publisher's commentary emphasizes that most of these funds are relationship-driven, with selective processes and, for several, a preference for co-investment alongside fund commitments. The article is promotional for Dakota Marketplace, which tracks more than 10,000 institutional investor accounts outside the United States.
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