Investment roles at University Endowments?

Am looking at an investment analyst role from Harvard Management Company (Harvard's investment management firm) and was wondering if anyone here has insights on what it's like to work at an university endowment in an investments role and what people typically exit to from these types of positions?

Thanks so much!

6 Comments
 
Most Helpful

These roles can be fantastic, especially at a top 10 endowment like HMC. The work is really capital allocation (not so much direct investing). What this means is you will be looking at all types of investment firms and strategies. While you won’t build direct investing skills, you’ll get exposure and connections across the investing world. Your access, at a top endowment, will be phenomenal. That said, I think the role is best suited to someone who is 1-2 years of experience. That way, you can work at an endowment for a couple of years, understand the finance / investing world, and go to b-school once you decide on a long-term career

 

Harvard actually has a direct investment arm for their endowment, while most are fund of fund styles.

Common critique of their fund as they perform worse than endowments like MIT, Yale, etc

 

do you happen to know which other endowments have direct investing arms?

 

Wish I could be helpful here but I don’t.

Only reason I know this fun fact is because I created a presentation my sr. year of school why Harvard’s is subpar (went to a rival school)

 

Bump, anyone have insight into total comp at top endowments (Cornell/Princeton/Harvard/Yale)?

 

Nostrum et maxime culpa repellat perspiciatis molestiae eaque. Unde dolorem veniam eum voluptatem et. Odit molestiae pariatur dolorem asperiores. Omnis in eum est aliquam et. Quae et modi illo modi laborum laudantium cum. Non dolores dolore nemo ea eaque quidem vero quidem. Quis est molestias explicabo quos iste dolores.

Career Advancement Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.3%
  • BMO Capital Markets 13 97.7%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.3%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.7%
  • JPMorgan 01 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (15) $434
  • Associates (46) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (80) $150
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (73) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
6
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
7
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
10
Mimbs's picture
Mimbs
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”