Endowment Performance Report

The Georgetown University Investment Office reports to the Board of Directors’ Investment Subcommittee and is responsible for managing the day-to-day operations of the pooled endowment. Headed by the Chief Investment Officer, the Investment Office provides recommendations on asset allocation, sources investment opportunities, and monitors the portfolio.

Georgetown’s endowment is the permanent capital of the university and provides financial resources to support scholarships, professorships, academic and research programs, facilities, and other institutional operations.

The total endowment consists of the combined market values of the pooled and separately invested endowments. The pooled endowment includes approximately 2,700 individual endowment accounts that are commingled into a single portfolio managed by the Investment Office. Separately invested endowment accounts are managed by the university according to specific guidelines established by the donors.

Georgetown’s long-term objective for the endowment is to generate returns that exceed annual spending requirements plus inflation. As endowment distributions are provided to the university on an ongoing basis, a tension exists between the needs of present and future generations.

To balance these needs and to ensure perpetual, sustainable support for the institution, the Investment Office targets the highest possible return while maintaining an appropriate level of risk and ensuring adequate liquidity.

Georgetown’s investment strategy includes:

• A long-term strategy favoring growth and capital appreciation
• A thoughtfully diversified portfolio anchored upon the asset allocation policy, concentrated on certain themes and strategies executed by third party investment managers
• Identifying expert investment managers in their respective strategies or niches
• Monitoring management fees and related costs and negotiating favorable terms for Georgetown
• Keeping abreast of trends in the market and finding unique opportunities to generate strong returns

The Board of Directors’ Investment Subcommittee sets the investment policy for the pooled endowment. The subcommittee meets in person on a quarterly basis to review the portfolio. On an annual basis, the subcommittee reviews the asset allocation targets and ranges for the individual asset classes of the endowment. The Investment Office oversees the management of the aggregate portfolio and underlying investments and is accountable to this subcommittee.

As of June 30, 2023, the market value of the total endowment was $3.26B. The pooled endowment had an annual return of 4.7 percent compared to 10.5 percent for the policy benchmark. After contributing to strong outperformance in the growth-friendly environment of the last decade, the endowment’s sizable technology portfolio (across public and private equity) underperformed in the public market rally of FY23. Exposure to small cap financials also weighed down equity returns for the year in the wake of the Silicon Valley Bank crisis, while biotechnology was a strong positive contributor. Outside of pure equities, energy infrastructure, absolute return strategies (long/short and event-driven), private credit, and private real estate outperformed on a relative basis.

Georgetown’s Board of Directors determines the endowment’s spending policy, which currently stipulates a payout of 5% of the trailing five-year moving average of the endowment’s market value two years in arrears. The long-term and lagged nature of the policy helps smooth the impact of market fluctuations, providing more consistent support for the people and programs benefiting from endowment income. In Fiscal Year 2023, the endowment’s spending rate, based on the above policy calculation, was 4.6%.

In fiscal year 2017, Georgetown’s Board of Directors approved a Socially Responsible Investing Policy that further aligns the university’s investment strategy with its commitment to social justice, protection of human life and dignity, stewardship of the planet, and promotion of the common good. In fiscal year 2020, Georgetown’s Board of Directors approved the expansion of the university’s impact investment strategy to increase investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency and prudently divest from fossil fuel companies.

To bolster our internal resources, the Investment Office takes advantage of an incredible proprietary talent pool: undergraduate student interns. In Fiscal Year 2023, 22 interns worked in our office: six seniors, five juniors, six sophomores, and five first-year students. After a selective recruiting process, these students are hired as either first-years or sophomores and work as part of the investment team throughout their time at Georgetown, including at least one full-time summer in the office. Working with these high-caliber individuals provides a real connection to one of the endowment’s core missions: making Georgetown accessible to the very best students.

We invite you to learn more about the Investment Office at investments.georgetown.edu.

The following members of the subcommittee, all with decades of professional investment experience, contribute expert guidance on the endowment’s investment strategy

• Timothy J. O’Neill (L’77, Parent’08,’11,’12,’15,’21), Subcommittee Chair, Senior Counselor, Goldman Sachs
• Joseph P. Baratta (B’93), Global Head of Private Equity, Blackstone
• Peter J. Clare (B’87), Chief Investment Officer of Corporate Private Equity and Chairman of the Americas, The Carlyle Group
• Suzanne O. Donohoe (C’92), Chief Commercial Officer and Global Head of EQT-Ext (CXO), EQT Partners
• Thomas J. Healey (C’64, Parent’95), Founder and Managing Partner, Healey Development
• Michael G. Psaros (B’89, Parent’21), Co-Founder and Managing Partner, KPS Capital Partners
• Thomas W. Purcell (SFS’93, Parent’23, ’25) Founder, Alua Capital
• Melody S. Rollins (SFS’93), Global Head of Core Institutional Client Service, Bridgewater Associates
• Robert H. Steers (B’75, Parent’06,’08,’10), Executive Chairman, Cohen & Steers
• Laurence A. Tosi (C’90, L’94, MBA’94), Managing Partner, Weston Capital Partners