Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s endowment lost 2.9% on its investments in the year ended in June, the second straight annual drop.
The university said Friday that its endowment fund, among the largest of US private colleges, was valued at $23.5 billion, down from $24.6 billion in 2022.
The richest colleges, even with their more sophisticated investment operations that include venture capital and hedge funds, performed worse than small endowments in the most recent year.
Overall endowments earned a median 9.3% before fees in the 12 months through June, according to data by Wilshire Trust Universe Comparison Service, which doesn’t name individual schools. The median return for endowments greater than $500 million was 6.2%, compared with 10% for funds smaller than $500 million.
Private equity and venture capital firms started writing down some of their investments over the last year, hitting endowments that had invested heavily in those funds.
“Retrenchment in the valuations of venture capital portfolio companies affected the performance,” MIT said in its annual report.
In addition to experiencing investment losses, MIT said it encountered significant inflationary pressure on a range of costs.
Duke University said that its endowment posted a 1% loss in the same period.
(Updates with comment from university is sixth paragraph)
