UNC Endowment Down $320 Million

The UNC Chapel Hill Board of Trustees announced that their endowment lost about $320 million (see Charlotte Observer article). A big loss indeed, but when you consider that the endowment is currently worth about $2.5 billion, the approximately 13 percent loss is not too bad when compared to the broader market - albeit some funds are more conservative and are geared towards protecting the capital at all cost (something worth considering once again for everyone). On the other hand, the fund appears to have underperformed other endowments - the top 30 university endowments (each over $1 billion in AUM) have lost on average about 9.8 percent. Then again, "just down 10-13 percent" is usually followed by "we need to cut spending and raise tuition," which is not what anyone wants to hear or say right now. Just ask students, faculty, and of course, parents.