PND News - U.S. Educational Endowments Grew in 2005, Study Finds

PND News - U.S. Educational Endowments Grew in 2005, Study Finds: "U.S. Educational Endowments Grew in 2005, Study Finds

U.S. educational endowments in 2005 registered returns that compared favorably to returns over the past five years, a new study from the Wilton, Connecticut-based Commonfund Institute finds.

The fifth annual Commonfund Benchmarks Study found that educational endowments and foundations supporting education reported average annual total returns of 9.7 percent in 2005. That compares with reported average annual total returns of 14.7 percent for fiscal year 2004, 3.1 percent for 2003, -6 percent in 2002, -3 percent in 2001, and 13.2 percent in 2000. Moreover, benchmark leaders in the top decile and top quartile reported returns in excess of 13.7 percent and 11.2 percent, respectively. Among public and private institutions, average returns were 10.4 percent and 10 percent, respectively. Respondent institutions reported average three- and five-year returns of 9.6 percent and 3.5 percent, respectively, with larger institutions (assets of more than $1 billion) reporting significantly higher three- and five-year returns (11.6 percent and 5.1 percent) than institutions with less than $10 million in assets (9.5 percent and 3.3 percent)."