Hedge Funds Are Columbia's Big Bet in $10 Billion Endowment
Hedge Funds Are Columbia's Biggest Bet in $10 Billion Endowment
(Bloomberg) -- Columbia University’s $10 billion endowment has invested a third of its assets in hedge funds at a time when other large investors are chasing low-cost passive funds.
The fund had 33 percent of its portfolio in hedge funds as of June 30, when its fiscal year ends, according to a bond document. The allocation was the Ivy League school fund’s largest, followed by 22 percent in global equities and 20 percent in private equity, according to the document.
Institutional investors have been warming to hedge funds after a reluctance to commit capital following years of underperformance and high fees. Stock hedge funds, in particular, have lost their sheen among investors as they move toward cheaper, passive index funds.
The University of California recently increased its passive investments to 17 percent of its portfolio, up from 5 percent after purging 72 external money managers.
Among endowments with more than $1 billion, the average allocation in “marketable alternatives,” which includes hedge funds, derivatives and other illiquid strategies, was 19 percent as of June 30, according to the National Association of College and University Business Officers.
In fiscal 2015, the last time the New York-based Columbia reported its asset allocation, 29 percent was in “absolute return,” which includes hedge funds. The fund had 24 percent in private equity and 19 percent in global equities in the same period. For fiscal 2017, hedge funds were listed as a separate asset class, according to the document.
Robert Hornsby, a Columbia spokesman, confirmed the numbers and declined further comment.
Columbia’s 13.7 percent return in fiscal 2017 was third-highest among the eight-member Ivy League, and its 10-year investment return of 7.3 percent was the best in the group, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
To contact the reporter on this story: Kate Smith in New York at ksmith304@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Margaret Collins at mcollins45@bloomberg.net, Mary Romano, Josh Friedman
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