UO Foundation endowment performance ranks in top quarter

Continued strong endowment earnings has put the University of Oregon in the top 25 percent of all U.S. universities, in a ranking of endowment performance by the National Association of College and Business Officers.

The UO Foundation’s 13.8 percent annualized rate of return placed it in the top 16 percent of all university endowments, in NACUBO's survey of more than 800 endowments. The UO Foundation’s 10-year performance – a 7.9 percent annualized return – also led to a ranking in the top quarter of all university endowments.

The UO endowment reached an all-time high-market value of $553 million as of June 30, 2013. Its annual performance ranked second among the endowments of PAC-12 Conference universities, its five-year performance ranked third in the conference and its 10-year performance ranked fourth.

“The Foundation’s board of trustees, investment committee and dedicated investment staff take their fiduciary responsibility very seriously,” said Jay Namyet, the UO Foundation's chief investment officer. “It is our every intention to build upon last decade’s investment success as we enter into yet another challenging chapter of global economic dynamism.”

The Foundation has positioned the endowment to perform well in all environments, Namyet said. Thoughtful diversification allows the endowment to capture much – but not all – of strong markets, and to mitigate against losses during difficult markets, he said. That provides a dependable stream of distributions to the UO.

- from the UO Office of Strategic Communications