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MIT's Endowment Gains 13.5% as Value Hits Record $16.4 Billion

MIT's Endowment Gains 13.5% as Value Hits Record $16.4 Billion

(Bloomberg) -- The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, one of the wealthiest schools in the U.S., posted an investment gain of 13.5 percent in fiscal 2018 as the endowment’s value reached a record $16.4 billion.

MIT’s investment management company oversees a total of $25.3 billion of endowment, retirement and operating funds as of June 30, according to a school statement on Friday. The statement didn’t specify performance by sector or provide asset allocation breakdown.

The investment policy’s goal is to produce “high real rates of return without exceptional volatility,” according to the treasurer’s report published today. The investment office favors equities over fixed income and “is heavily weighted toward less efficient markets such as private equity, real estate and real assets.”

MIT’s return compares with a median 7.4 percent, gross of fees, for endowments of all sizes in the period through June 30, according to data by Wilshire Trust Universe Comparison Service. Colleges usually report their numbers net of fees.

MIT’s endowment is the sixth-largest in U.S. higher education, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Seth Alexander is president of the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based management company.

To contact the reporter on this story: Michael McDonald in Boston at mmcdonald10@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Margaret Collins at mcollins45@bloomberg.net, Mary Romano, Josh Friedman

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