Stanford Endowment Hits $26.5 Billion, Aided by Private Equity

(Bloomberg) -- Stanford University’s endowment returned 11.3 percent for the year ended in June, adding $3 billion in gains to the school’s fund.

Stanford trailed some peers but beat the median gain of 8.3 percent for 143 endowments of all sizes, according to consultant Cambridge Associates. The fund’s value reached $26.5 billion at the end of August, when Stanford’s year ends, the school said Thursday in a statement.

Results were bolstered by private equity and public stocks, Robert Wallace, chief executive officer of the Stanford Management Co., said in the statement.

“Performance in illiquid asset classes, including private equity, was strong in absolute terms but trailed our expectations in relative terms,” he said. “Our efforts to reposition the illiquid asset classes are still in early stages and will require more time to complete.”

Stanford’s merged pool is the principal fund for investing the university’s endowment and includes capital reserves of Stanford Health Care and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford, along with other funds, according to the statement. The merged pool is $28.7 billion, according to the statement.

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

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