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Penn Endowment Posts 41% Return, Buoyed by Stock Market Gains

Penn Endowment Posts 41% Return, Buoyed by Stock Market Gains

The University of Pennsylvania reported a 41.1% return for its endowment in fiscal 2021.

The fund’s value rose $5.6 billion for the year ended June 30, bringing the total to $20.5 billion, the school said in a emailed statement Thursday. Peter Ammon leads the endowment.

Colleges are benefiting from record high stock markets and private equity gains. Washington University in St. Louis reported a 65% return on Sept. 20. Endowments returned a median 27% for the period, the strongest performance since 1986, according to data from Wilshire Trust Universe Comparison Service. 

Vanderbilt University posted a 57.1% return, driven by outperformance in public equities and hedge funds, according to an emailed statement Thursday. That added $4 billion to the fund, bringing the Nashville-based school’s total to $10.9 billion as of June, according to Anders Hall, chief investment officer. 

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