Iowa State University endowment returns 0.4% for fiscal year

Iowa State University Foundation's $1.3 billion long-term portfolio returned a net 0.4% for the fiscal year ended June 30.

The Ames-based foundation's portfolio of endowment assets posted a return well above its benchmark return of -3.4% for the period, spokeswoman Elaine Watkins-Miller confirmed in an email.

For the three, five and 10 years ended June 30, the long-term portfolio returned an annualized net 12.3%, 10.1% and 9%, respectively, above their respective benchmarks of 9%, 7.9% and 7.4%.

The foundation's pool of endowment assets had returned a net 39.4% for the fiscal year ended June 30.

For the most recent fiscal year, the foundation's report cited the struggles of the global economy and financial markets as a primary driver for the low overall returns.

For the year ended June 30, the Russell 3000 index and Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond index returned -13.9% and -10.3%, respectively, in sharp contrast to returns of 44.2% and 4.6% for the year ended June 30, 2021.

The foundation's report did not provide specific returns by asset class, but it did say "nearly all asset classes, including equities and fixed income, reported negative performance for the twelve months ended June 30, 2022, with the one exception being commodities which saw strong performance as food and energy prices increased."

As of June 30, the actual allocation was 27% private equity, 20% global equities, 18% domestic equities, 12% diversifying equities, 11% fixed income, 7% real assets and 5% emerging markets equities.