Independent Schools Report 9.2% Return on Endowment Assets for FY2023,
Marking Reversal from Last Year’s -11.3% Loss
Returns Rebound; New Gifts to Endowments Fall, Responsible Investing Tempers
WILTON, Conn., February 26, 2024 — Institutions participating in the Commonfund Benchmarks Study® of Independent Schools for the 2023 fiscal year reported an average annual return of 9.2 percent on their endowment assets. The average one-year return increased by 20.5 percentage points from -11.3 percent posted in fiscal 2022. This marks another year of dramatic swings in returns, following fiscal year 2022 when returns fell by 37 percentage points—the largest year-over-year reversal since the study commenced for the 2005 fiscal year. (All returns are reported net of fees. Fiscal year 2023 covers the period from July 1, 2022, to June 30, 2023, and coincides with the budget year of most independent schools.)
Positive one-year returns were a welcome change from the prior year, but longer-term portfolio gains are of primary importance for the financial health and sustainability of perpetual institutions. Returns in FY2023 boosted 3-year average returns from 5.5 percent in FY2022 to 7.1 percent in FY2023. Meanwhile, five-year average returns of 6.0 percent were on par with last year’s report, and 10-year average returns were 6.7 percent for this year’s participating schools, compared with 8.1 percent average 10-year returns posted by last year’s cohort. The drop in 10 year returns could potentially be attributed to a positive year being dropped out of the 10-year calculation coupled with the inclusion of fiscal year 2022’s low performance.
George Suttles, Executive Director of Commonfund Institute, and Jeffrey Shields, President and CEO of NBOA, noted in a joint statement that investment returns have been volatile in recent years, but this year was a turn in favor of independent school endowments. “After last year’s study reported that independent schools saw negative 11.3 percent returns, many were back on track in fiscal year 2023, posting 9.2 percent gains on endowment assets. These gains secured higher 3-year returns of 7.1 percent on average across responding schools as longer-term returns held steady. This demonstrates that despite fluctuations year to year, independent schools can be confident that their strategies are in line with the purpose of perpetuity.”
Two hundred ten independent schools representing roughly $12.7 billion in combined endowment assets provided data for the Study. Data gathered in the Study are aggregated for all participants and, for closer analysis, are segmented into three size cohorts: institutions with endowment assets over $50 million; those with assets between $10 and $50 million; and those with assets under $10 million. Institutions participating in the Study comprise day schools, boarding schools and schools that are a combination of both, and some analysis in the study segments data by day and schools with boarding. Independent schools are private, nonprofit institutions enrolling students from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade. In the U.S., approximately 10 percent of the student population attend an independent school, according to the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS).
Commonfund conducts the annual study of independent school endowment management practices and policies in conjunction with NBOA: Business Leadership for Independent Schools, the only national nonprofit association focused exclusively on fostering financial and operational excellence in independent PK-12 schools.
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