Our third annual Endowment Radar Study reflects the growing role of the endowment in the private college and university business model. This year saw notable growth in the endowment’s support of the budget and its contribution to balance sheet health.
In just the last five years, total US institutional assets under management by Outsourced Chief Investment Officers has continued to grow steadily, and is projected to reach nearly $2 trillion in 2021.
The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) was signed into law on March 11, 2021, and included a variety of plan sponsor–friendly changes to single-employer and multiemployer pension plans, but no real help for public sector plans. ARPA may change the future landscape of US pension plans, which may prompt plan sponsors to modify their investment strategies to achieve plan objectives. Its impact will vary greatly, both by plan type and individual plan circumstances.
While colleges and universities have faced several financial fissures due to the disruptions of COVID-19, their endowments have been a source of financial stability. Four key financial indicators tell this story: operating margins were compressed, tuition discounts grew, institutions borrowed more debt, and endowment spending was consistent. In this note, we review these financial pressures and the endowment implications that emerged in Cambridge Associates’ second annual Endowment Radar Study of private college and university finances.
Overview Of the 202 Cambridge Associates clients that responded to the 2020 survey, 100 reported engaging in sustainable and impact investing (50%) and an additional 23 reported engaging in ESG integration and/or impact investing, though they answered “no” to the SII engagement question, bringing the total to 123 (61%) reporting engaging in sustainable and impact…
The current health crisis is creating extraordinary financial disruptions for nonprofit enterprises. While institutional needs and resources are far from uniform, each must tread carefully and evaluate thoughtfully before making short-term spending decisions that will impact the institution forever.
The global pandemic has created unprecedented challenges to the enterprises and financial circumstances of endowed institutions, requiring an extensive response. In June 2020, Cambridge Associates conducted a study focused on endowment spending and other sources of liquidity these institutions are turning to in order to manage the financial disruption.
There are many facets of higher education finance, and it is often challenging to describe how the endowment fits into an institution’s financial picture. Using four key metrics, Endowment Radar plots the endowment’s role in the college and university business model.
Before COVID-19 most hospitals generated liquidity from their operating model. In our May 2020 survey of 27 hospital systems, we learned that COVID-19 has driven hospitals to search for liquidity from multiple sources, including, for some, the investment portfolio.
In April 2020, Cambridge Associates conducted a survey of our foundation clients to gauge sentiment about spending for the current year and to understand potential sources of flexibility and liquidity in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. This year has brought tremendous disruption and uncertainty, but foundations are approaching these challenges with responsive philanthropy and a long-term view, so they can support important causes in 2020 and beyond.