Endowments
Our Financial Future
The DU Endowment is built on the generosity of donors and alumni. The funds are used for new facilities, programming, professorships, student aid and more. Over the years, the endowment has changed lives both on and off campus, supporting students and alumni with immersive educational experiences, career development services and other opportunities.
Read on and discover how the endowment empowers students, professors and the University to create meaningful change throughout our communities — all made possible by gifts from the global DU community.
About the Endowment
Dear Friends,
As a member of the Board of Trustees and Chair of the Investment Committee, I am pleased to share information about the University of Denver’s endowment for the 2023 Fiscal Year (July 1, 2022 – June 30, 2023).
We continue to develop a strong partnership with our asset management firm, Investure, LLC. This year, they are celebrating 20 years of leadership in the endowment and foundation investment management industry. Investure currently manages approximately $16 billion in assets and our endowment falls in the middle of their client asset range.
The University of Denver portfolio is a global, multi-asset class portfolio that is heavily weighted to equities. Our goals remain the same in that we 1) take advantage of the endowment’s perpetual time horizon with a focus on long-term (10+ years) outperformance over passive indices, and 2) protect against large downturns in the global equity markets.
During the fiscal year ending June 30, 2023, the University’s endowment carried a positive return of 4.26%. We’re confident in our long-term growth and will work closely with Investure to navigate inflation and our future investment outlook. Thank you for your ongoing support of DU.
Sincerely,
Edward T. Anderson
BFA ‘71 Chair
Investment Committee Board of Trustees
Ed Anderson has been active in the venture capital industry for nearly 40 years. He is the Founder and Managing General Partner of North Bridge Venture Partners. Additionally, he founded North Bridge Growth Equity, a business he later sold. He successfully raised over $3 billion dollars in support of these partnerships. Ed has provided financing and advised entrepreneurs who are focused on starting game-changing technology companies. He has appeared many times on Forbes Midas List of most successful venture capitalists in the country.
After graduating from the University of Denver, (Class of ’71) he earned an MA in Management from the Columbia University Graduate School of Business. Ed presently serves on the public company boards of Couchbase (NASDAQ: BASE), Lyra (NASDAQ: LYRA) and Markforged (NYSE: MKFG)
University of Denver Investment Policy
The University of Denver’s investment philosophy is to maximize return on assets by exercising an appropriate level of risk; benefiting current and future generations of students and honoring a donor’s intent for the gift and growth of their investment. The University manages stock market volatility by maintaining a diversified portfolio, including equities, fixed income, real estate, and other investments. However, diversification alone will not prevent the endowment from sustaining losses during market downturns. The University of Denver’s endowment distribution policy insulates its budget from short-term fluctuations in the financial markets by using a conservative spending rate formula. These funds are pooled for investment to minimize costs and maximize returns. A separate account is maintained for each endowed fund to track growth, expenditures, and additional contributions—thereby preserving the identity and purpose of each fund. The investment pool is overseen by the University’s Investment Committee, which employed the services of Investure LLC, a leading investment firm, to actively manage the University’s Endowment Investments. Earnings in excess of the amount expended from each fund are retained in the fund to provide the basis for continued growth.
Spending Policy
The University of Denver’s endowment spending rate policy is currently 4.5% of an individual endowment fund’s market value. The majority of these funds include true endowments, made up of gifts restricted by donors to provide long-term funding for designated purposes. The remaining funds represent funds that the University chose to invest and treat as endowment (known as quasi-endowment). Donors frequently specify a particular purpose for gifts, creating endowments to fund scholarships and fellowships, professorships, and other University programs. Although distinct in purpose or restriction, endowed funds are commingled in an investment pool, but tracked on an individual account basis.
The University reinvests previously allocated spending distributions that have accumulated in amounts greater than two times the estimated annual distributions. This enhances our ability to ensure the duration and preservation of our endowed funds, and to honor the intent of our donors.
Campaign Investment Fund
As the University of Denver continues to deepen its commitment to building a global culture of engagement and philanthropy, 5% of philanthropic gifts received on or after January 1, 2018, will be allocated to support fundraising and engagement efforts. Additionally, the University will commit a portion of annual reserve funding to support campaign operations. The combined funding from these two sources will constitute the Campaign Investment Fund. These assessments will significantly extend the reach and impact of gifts to the University and help advance the mission of the University of Denver.
Empowering Refugees with Promising Careers
Generous endowed gifts recently helped create a hospitality training program geared toward providing opportunities for refugees and immigrants. The initiative helps newly arrived individuals integrate into the Denver community while providing hands-on management experience for DU students.