The endowment registered another impressive year of absolute and relative performance. Total investment return for the 2007 fiscal year (July 2006 – June 2007) amounted to 23.0%, net of all expenses and fees. In delivering one of its strongest years, HMC solidly out-performed its three distinct institutional benchmarks pertaining to both absolute and relative returns.
Reflecting the strong investment results, and after taking into account annual distributions to the University and the receipt of new gifts, the value of the endowment grew from $29.2 billion as of end-June 2006 to $34.9 billion as of end-June 2007 (Exhibit 1); the total value of the “General Investment Account” (GIA), which constitutes the pooled assets managed by HMC that include the endowment and related accounts, grew from $33.7 billion to $41.0 billion. As a result, University recipients will experience in FY08 another increase in endowment distributions to support teaching, research and student aid.
John Harvard Letter
In this sixteenth annual letter from the Harvard Management Company (HMC) to the friends of Harvard, we would like to update you on the three main topics: the endowment results for the fiscal year that just ended, progress made in rebuilding our institution during this period of transition, and some of the challenges we face looking forward.
