Harvard University’s endowment is overseen by Harvard Management Company Inc. (HMC), an investment firm wholly owned by the university. As of June 30, 2024, the endowment stood at $53.2 billion, with an average annual return of 9.3% over the past seven years, based on available performance data.

While the University is consistently ranked among the world’s best, a clash over academic freedom and administrative authority has dominated discussions in recent weeks and months. Some of the recent decisions (funding, limits on international students) by the Trump administration have raised questions about academic freedom, internal governance, and transparency. These issues are still unfolding and continue to draw attention both within the university and beyond.

Bill Ackman, CEO of Pershing Square, criticized Harvard’s leadership during a mid-May CNBC interview, arguing that the university missed an opportunity to engage meaningfully on concerns raised by public figures, including former President Trump. Ackman believes Harvard should have responded more thoughtfully to criticism surrounding free speech, internal inefficiencies, and political imbalance, issues that, in his view, continue to erode confidence in the administration.

He also raised questions about Harvard’s financial health. Although the endowment is estimated at $53 billion, Ackman pointed out that much of it is tied up in illiquid assets such as real estate and private equity. Reports of the university seeking buyers for a $1 billion stake in its private investments, potentially at a discount, have raised eyebrows. On top of that, he cited Harvard’s $8 billion in outstanding debt, suggesting that the university could face funding pressures if donations or public support decline.

In a separate Bloomberg interview on June 17, Citadel founder Ken Griffin shared his hopes for American universities to re-focus on their original purpose: educating future leaders and helping students contribute meaningfully to society.

With those insights, let’s explore the Harvard University stock portfolio: Top 10 stock picks.

Our Methodology

For this analysis, we reviewed the stock portfolio of Harvard Management Company as reported in its 13F filing for the first quarter of 2025. The rankings are based on the value of the firm’s holdings in each stock as of the quarter’s end. To provide additional insight into institutional investor interest, we also included hedge fund holdings data using Insider Monkey’s Q1 2025 hedge fund holdings database.

Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).

Note: All pricing data is as of market close on June 20.

Harvard University Stock Portfolio: Top 10 Stock Picks

10. Rubrik Inc. (NYSE:RBRK)

Harvard Management Company’s Stake: $8.1 Million

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 45

Rubrik Inc. (NYSE:RBRK) is one of the top 10 stock picks from Harvard University’s stock portfolio. It was among the three new stock positions initiated in the portfolio in Q1 2025, though the position is relatively small (0.7% of portfolio value) versus other stocks.

That said, the stock is a strong performer with YTD gains of approximately 31% and around 190% over the last one year.

On June 11, Shrenik Kothari of Robert W. Baird reiterated his Buy rating on the stock, maintaining a price target of $110. He pointed to continued strength in the company’s financial indicators, particularly a steady rise in remaining performance obligations (RPO), both year-over-year and sequentially, a signal of sustained customer demand.

The company also appears to be converting a significant portion of deferred revenue into current income, reflecting solid revenue recognition practices and billing efficiency. The U.S. remains Rubrik’s largest and fastest-growing market, playing a pivotal role in driving growth.

While its revenue from channel partners has become slightly more diversified, those partnerships remain central to the company’s go-to-market approach. The analyst added that rising subscription revenue across Rubrik’s offerings reflects healthy customer uptake and growing interest.

Altogether, these trends suggest the company’s momentum is holding steady. As a result, Kothari remains upbeat, citing reliable performance indicators as the basis for his optimistic view.

Rubrik Inc. (NYSE:RBRK) is a cloud data management and cybersecurity firm that offers the Rubrik Security Cloud, a unified SaaS platform combining backup, threat detection, ransomware recovery, and sensitive data monitoring across on-premises, cloud, and SaaS environments.

9. Purecycle Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PCT)

Harvard Management Company’s Stake: $17.3 Million

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 21

Purecycle Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PCT) is one of the top 10 stock picks from Harvard University’s stock portfolio. The Harvard Management Co. has maintained its position in the stock (around 2.5 million shares or 1.5% portfolio’s weight) versus the last quarter.

On June 17, 2025, PureCycle Technologies (Nasdaq: PCT) announced a $300 million capital raise through binding agreements with both new and existing investors, including Duquesne Family Office, Samlyn Capital and Sylebra Capital. This funding will support the company’s long-term growth strategy, scaling its polypropylene recycling capacity to one billion pounds by 2030, with a projected EBITDA target of $600 million.

The capital raise coincides with PureCycle’s expansion into Southeast Asia through a strategic partnership with IRPC Public Company Limited. Together, they plan to build a 130-million-pound recycling facility at IRPC’s industrial zone in Rayong, Thailand. Construction is scheduled to begin in the second half of 2025, with operations expected by mid-2027. The partnership enables PureCycle to leverage existing infrastructure and reduce construction costs.

Parallel expansion efforts are underway in both Europe and the United States. The company plans to replicate its recent successes by enhancing its facilities in Antwerp, Belgium, and by developing a large-scale Gen 2 plant in Augusta, Georgia, with a capacity of over 300 million pounds. Engineering work for the Augusta site is ongoing, with permitting and construction milestones scheduled for 2026, and an operational ramp-up is expected by 2029.

(At the time of writing this article, this funding transaction was expected to close by June 20).

With these aggressive expansion projects, their scale, and geographic diversity, the company appears confident in the commercial traction and operational learnings from its Ironton facility.

PureCycle Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PCT) is a recycling company. The Company focuses on commercializing a dissolution recycling technology that physically separates polymer from other plastics, color, and contaminants, thereby restoring waste polypropylene into resin with similar properties and applicability for reuse as virgin polypropylene.