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Optimal Investment Strategies for University Endowment Funds

In: Studies of Supply and Demand in Higher Education

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  • Robert C. Merton

Abstract

A common approach to the management of endowment is to treat it as if it were the only asset of the university. This approach leads to prescriptions for optimal investment and expenditure policies that are essentially the same across universities. Indeed, the resulting optimal portfolio strategies are focused almost exclusively on providing an efficient tradeoff between risk and expected return, a generic objective that is just as applicable to individuals and non-academic institutions as it is to universities. In contrast, the model developed here provides intertemporally optimal investment and expenditure rules for endowment that take account of the university's overall objectives and total resources. The explicit inclusion of other university assets in addition to endowment leads to optimal endowment portfolios that are not efficient in the sense of the risk-return tradeoff. Moreover, two universities with similar objectives and endowments can have very different optimal portfolios and expenditure patterns if their non-endowment sources of cash flow are different. The model also takes account of the uncertainty surrounding the costs of the various activities such as education, research, and knowledge storage that define the purpose of the university. As a result, the analysis reveals a perhaps somewhat latent role for endowment: namely, hedging against unanticipated changes in those costs.
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Suggested Citation

  • Robert C. Merton, 1993. "Optimal Investment Strategies for University Endowment Funds," NBER Chapters, in: Studies of Supply and Demand in Higher Education, pages 211-242, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberch:6102
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    Cited by:

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    3. van den Bremer, Ton & van der Ploeg, Frederick & Wills, Samuel, 2016. "The Elephant In The Ground: Managing Oil And Sovereign Wealth," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 113-131.
    4. Steven L. Green, 2009. "Why 5 percent? An analysis of optimal endowment spending rates," Studies in Economics and Finance, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 26(4), pages 216-231, October.
    5. Marie Brière & Zvi Bodie, 2014. "Sovereign Wealth and Risk Management: A Framework for Optimal Asset Allocation of Sovereign Wealth," Post-Print hal-01492603, HAL.
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    7. Caroline M. Hoxby, 2013. "Endowment Management Based on a Positive Model of the University," NBER Chapters, in: How the Financial Crisis and Great Recession Affected Higher Education, pages 15-41, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Drew M. Anderson, 2019. "What Constitutes Prudent Spending from Private College Endowments? Evidence from Underwater Funds," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 14(1), pages 88-114, Winter.
    9. Sandeep Dahiya & David Yermack, 2018. "Investment Returns and Distribution Policies of Non-Profit Endowment Funds," NBER Working Papers 25323, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Cejnek, Georg & Franz, Richard & Stoughton, Neal M., 2023. "Portfolio Choice with Endogenous Donations - Modeling University Endowments," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 125.
    11. Rudolf, Markus & Ziemba, William T., 2004. "Intertemporal surplus management," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 28(5), pages 975-990, February.
    12. Yan Lau & Harvey S. Rosen, 2015. "Are Universities Becoming More Unequal?," Working Papers 245, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Center for Economic Policy Studies..
    13. David Schröder, 2013. "Asset allocation in private wealth management: Theory versus practice," Journal of Asset Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 14(3), pages 162-181, June.
    14. Leippold, Markus & Trojani, Fabio & Vanini, Paolo, 2006. "Equilibrium impact of value-at-risk regulation," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 30(8), pages 1277-1313, August.
    15. Paolo Guasoni & Gur Huberman & Dan Ren, 2020. "Shortfall aversion," Mathematical Finance, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(3), pages 869-920, July.
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    17. Isabelle Bajeux-Besnainou & Kurtay Ogunc, 2006. "Spending rules for endowment funds," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 27(1), pages 93-107, August.
    18. Yan Lau & Harvey S. Rosen, 2015. "Are Universities Becoming More Unequal?," NBER Working Papers 21432, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    19. Harvey S. Rosen & Alexander J. W. Sappington, 2016. "Impact of Endowment Shocks on Payouts," Working Papers 250, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Center for Economic Policy Studies..
    20. Katharina Schwaiger & Cormac Lucas & Gautam Mitra, 2010. "Alternative decision models for liability-driven investment," Journal of Asset Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(2), pages 178-193, June.
    21. Muhammad Kashif & Francesco Menoncin & Iqbal Owadally, 2020. "Optimal portfolio and spending rules for endowment funds," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 55(2), pages 671-693, August.

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