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.

In September, Georgetown welcomed Kristin Agatone as the new chief investment officer.

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 2,900 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.

For FY25, the pooled endowment returned 14.0%, compared to 14.1% for the policy benchmark. This year’s result ranks in the top 5% of our peer institution set. Public markets continued their bull run, driven by both earnings growth and multiple expansion for the “Magnificent Seven” and other AI-exposed companies. Our marketable portfolio, which maintains a lower volatility profile than policy by design, generated 13.6%, while privates contributed an accretive 15.1% return. Tactical overweights to equities and infrastructure, underweights to credit and real estate, and strong security selection from our public and private equity managers were the largest contributors to this year’s performance. Long-term results remain strong, with the endowment’s 12.1% five-year and 7.8% ten-year annualized returns beating the policy benchmark’s 9.5% and 6.3% results, respectively.

The university has adopted a total return endowment spending policy that establishes the amount of investment return from the pooled endowment fund made available for spending each fiscal year. The spending policy is designed to stabilize annual spending levels and to preserve the portfolio. It is independent of the actual yield and appreciation of investments for the year. In Fiscal Year 2025, the endowment’s spending rate, based on the above policy calculation, was 4.5 percent.

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 while prudently divesting 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 2025, 22 interns worked in our office: five seniors, four juniors, seven sophomores, and six 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
• Joseph V. Amato (B’84, Parent’13, ’17, ’19), President & Chief Investment Officer of Equities, Neuberger Berman Group LLC
• Joseph P. Baratta (B’93, Parent’28), Global Head of Private Equity Strategies, Blackstone, Inc.
• Peter J. Clare (B’87, Parent’28), Former Chief Investment Officer of Private Equity, The Carlyle Group
• Suzanne O. Donohoe (C’92)
• 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), Co-Founder and Managing Partner, 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, ‘22), Executive Chairman, Cohen & Steers
• Laurence A. Tosi (C’90, L’94, MBA’94), Founder and Managing Partner, WestCap Group