5 Biggest Endowments in the US and Their Investments

3. Yale University

Value: $41.4 billion

Yale University is an Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut. Its endowment value as of FY 2022, is $41.4 billion, after net-of-fees returns of 0.8%. 

Its assets are primarily allocated in debt instruments and absolute return funds (30%), venture capital (23.5%) and leveraged buyout (17.5%), per Investopedia. The portfolio is largely concentrated in Vanguard Emerging Markets Stock Index Fund (NYSE:VWO), with shares worth $12.4 million that make up 67% of its 13F portfolio in Q3, 2022.

Yale’s spending and investment strategy relies on smoothing the impact of short-term market volatility.