Key Takeaways
- • Princeton University's endowment lost 1.7% in the latest fiscal year, its second straight negative return and the weakest annual performance among Ivy League schools reporting so far, according to Bloomberg.
- • The endowment's value declined to $34.1 billion at the end of June, per the school's Wednesday announcement.
- • Poor venture capital performance was the primary driver of the loss, compounded by a hedging strategy intended to offset that exposure, according to Princeton University Investment Co. president Andrew Golden.
Summary
According to Andrew Golden, president of the Princeton University Investment Co., which manages the fund, the negative result stemmed mainly from weak performance in venture capital. An attempt to hedge against that venture capital exposure compounded the loss, Golden said.
The value of the endowment fell to $34.1 billion at the end of June, reflecting the investment decline for the period. The result places Princeton at the bottom of the Ivy League cohort reported to date, with the full peer comparison still incomplete as most schools had yet to release figures at the time of reporting.
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