What kinds of funds do endowments write checks to?

I’m trying to raise capital, and I’m wondering what university endowments typically invest in. I have a number of connections to several, but I’m trying to figure out how to pitch this.

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Most university endowments with less than $1bn AUM utilize outsourced CIO consultants (e.g., Mercer) to select investments. Those consultants generally limit their investment proposals to "brand name" shops with long track records.

If you're talking about allocations more generally, larger public endowments tend to publish them (see Yale for overall allocations and Rutgers for individual holdings). Also, for more generalized allocations look at the NACUBO website (pathway to 2020 asset allocations by endowment size and institution type). If an endowment is large enough to have a CIO, deployment within buckets varies, but most rarely consider first or second time funds, except MIT from what I've heard.

 

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