The vast majority of participants in this study are private nonoperating foundations. These types of foundations must make qualifying distributions that amount to approximately 5% of their total asset value each year. Consequently, most respondents have spending objectives that are closely tied to this legal requirement. Our Payout from the Long-Term Investment Portfolio section summarizes data pertaining to spending for these types of foundations.

The Foundation Annual Flash Statistics Report provides a first look at the results of our 2024 Foundation Annual Investment Pool Returns survey. Look for our full annual analysis in the Foundation Annual Investment Pool Returns report later this summer.

Our biannual report summarizes asset allocation and total investment performance for 25 of Cambridge Associates’ UK foundation and endowment clients.

Our annual survey-based report summarizes returns, asset allocation, and other investment-related data for 323 endowed institutions for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2024.

Fiscal year 2024 was the best-performing year for endowments since 2021, with most reporting double-digit returns. However, it was also the second straight year that the returns of diversified portfolios fell short of an investment option with heavier public allocations. As a result, the three-year return of the peer median underperformed a simple blended index weighted 70% global public equity and 30% fixed income. However, private investments continued to be a key return driver for the best-performing portfolios in the endowment universe over the long term. The Investment Portfolio Returns section highlights these contrasting performance themes for the short-term versus long-term periods.

The primary policy benchmark for most respondents is a static-weighted blend of indexes where the weightings align exactly or closely with the asset classes and target percentages specified in the asset allocation policy. Perhaps the most consequential benchmarking decision investors have had to make in recent years is how to represent private equity in the policy benchmark. The majority of respondents use a public index for that representation, and this cohort by and large saw significant underperformance versus their benchmark in 2024. Our Benchmarking section summarizes the various approaches that endowments use for benchmarking total portfolio performance and compares endowment performance versus policy benchmark returns.