The value of Yale University’s endowment slipped by $100 million in the past year, largely due to a slender investment return that was only a third of what it averaged in recent decades, the venerable New Haven private university says.
Yale’s endowment generated $900 million, or a 4.7 percent return, in the 12 months ended June 30, the school announced Thursday. Yale’s is one of the world’s largest college endowments.
As a result of that and approximately $1 billion in outlays, the value of the endowment’s assets dropped $100 million from $19.4 billion the same period a year earlier, the university said.
Still, given the globally weak investment climate for all investors, Yale was grateful for the year it had.
“Thanks to the outstanding work of the Investments Office, Yale has derived maximum benefit from the generosity of its donors during challenging economic times,” said Yale President Richard C. Levin, who is retiring at the end of the academic year after two decades leading the school.
Yale said spending from the endowment for its 2013 fiscal year is budgeted at $1.03 billion, or about a third of the university’s net revenues. Endowment distributions to the operating budget have more than doubled in the last decade, it said.
Over the past two decades, Yale said its endowment generated returns of 13.7 percent a year.
