The University of Notre Dame's endowment concluded its 2023 fiscal year with a value of $18.9 billion.
Notre Dame's Endowment at a Glance
The endowment of the University of Notre Dame serves as a permanent pool of assets designed to provide long-term financial support for the university's academic mission, scholarships, faculty positions, research, and various operational needs. It is built from donations and managed through strategic investments.
For the fiscal year 2023, the Notre Dame endowment registered a value of $18.9 billion. Notably, the endowment's value remained consistent throughout this period, starting and ending the fiscal year at the same $18.9 billion mark.
Understanding Endowment Performance in FY2023
University endowments are complex financial instruments with performance influenced by global market conditions, investment strategies, and asset allocation. In the 2023 fiscal year, Notre Dame's endowment performance had specific characteristics:
- Consistent Valuation: The endowment maintained its $18.9 billion value from the beginning to the end of the 2023 fiscal year.
- Market Lag: The endowment's return lagged behind public markets.
- Investment Strategy Impact: A key factor contributing to this lag was its private equity exposure. Private equity investments, while offering potential for high long-term returns, can also introduce volatility and may not always move in lockstep with public market trends.
This consistent valuation for the year suggests a period where gains and losses, or reinvested income versus spending, balanced out, leading to no net change in the overall reported value for the fiscal year.
