By Mary Romano

One bad year continues to haunt university endowments' performance.

U.S. school funds had a strong year, rising an average 11.2% in the 12 months through June 30. But a lousy year in 2022, when endowments were battered by stock market losses, produced an average loss of 8%. That is dragging down the three-year average gain to 3.4%.

"Fiscal 2022 is going to stick with us for a while," says Mark Anson, CEO of asset manager Commonfund. "Eventually, it will roll off, but there's still a big gap in performance for the one-year and three-year."

The annual report by Commonfund and the National Association of College and University Business Officers, published this past Wednesday, included 658 U.S. colleges and universities with a total of $873.7 billion in endowment assets. Endowment spending, which covers financial aid, faculty and staff salaries, facilities maintenance, and other expenses, was $30 billion, up 6.4% year over year.

Smaller funds outpaced larger ones for a second year. They had bigger slices of their portfolios in public stocks, which produced strong gains. Larger funds typically have a more generous helping of private investments, including private equity, venture capital, and hedge funds. Returns on those relatively illiquid assets were positive but trailed on a relative basis.

Write to Mary Romano at mary.romano@barrons.com

Last Week

Markets

The White House levied 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports starting March 4 -- metals prices rose, stocks fell -- and warned of "reciprocal" tariffs in April. President Trump talked to Russian President Putin, promising to end the Ukraine war, while Defense Secretary Hegseth said the U.S. will no longer prioritize European security. Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell reiterated his "focus on the data" message to Congress. January inflation surprised by coming in at 3%; blame the eggs. On the week, the Dow industrials were up 0.6%; the S&P 500, 1.5%; and the Nasdaq Composite, 2.6%.

Companies

Trump paused Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement for six months and gave Elon Musk's DOGE oversight of hiring and firing across the government. The Justice Department told Apple and Google it wouldn't be prosecuted for restoring TikTok to its app stores. The Wall Street Journal reported the White House was mulling folding the FDIC into Treasury. Meta Platforms shares rose 20 sessions in a row, and AppLovin was up some 36% on the week.

Deals

Musk said he would drop a $97.4 billion bid for the nonprofit that controls OpenAI if it gives up plans to become a for-profit company...Elliott Management took stakes in oil major BP ($4.7 billion) and refiner Phillips 66 ($2.5 billion)...Taiwan's Foxconn Technology began deal talks with Nissan Motor... Spirit Airlines rejected Frontier Group's latest $2.2 billion offer... Unilever said it would list Ben & Jerry's in Amsterdam.

Next Week

Monday 2/17

Equity and fixed-income markets are closed in observance of Presidents Day.

Tuesday 2/18

Earnings season winds down with about 40 S&P 500 companies set to report this week. Arista Networks and Cadence Design Systems announce results on Tuesday, Analog Devices on Wednesday, and Block, Booking Holdings, and Walmart on Thursday.

Wednesday 2/19

The Federal Open Market Committee releases the minutes from its late-January monetary-policy meeting.

Friday 2/21

S&P Global releases both its Manufacturing and Services Purchasing Managers' Indexes for February. Consensus estimates are for a 51.1 reading for the Manufacturing PMI and a 53 Services PMI. This compares with readings of 51.2 and 52.9, respectively, in January.

The National Association of Realtors reports existing-home sales for January. Economists forecast a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.13 million homes sold, about 100,000 fewer than in December. In 2024, existing-home sales hit their lowest level since 1995.

The Numbers

6.1 M

The number of Chinese marriages last year, down 20.5% from 2023 and a record low since 1986.

$160 B

The total amount of China's distressed real estate debt, the world's largest, continues to grow.

126 M

The audience for the Super Bowl, a record. The Eagles walloped the Chiefs, if you weren't watching.

64%

The increase in December from a year earlier of U.S. homes taken off the market after failing to find buyers.

Write to Robert Teitelman at bob.teitelman@dowjones.com

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February 14, 2025 21:30 ET (02:30 GMT)

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