Stanford announced 31.7% returns on its merged financial pool on Sept. 24. The returns from the past year, ending on June 30, bring the merged pool to $61.5 billion. 

“We are proud of our 10-year performance, which places Stanford in the top 5% of U.S. college and university endowments, and was achieved by rebuilding substantially all of the investment portfolio as it stood in mid-2015,” Robert Wallace, CEO of Stanford Management Company (SMC), wrote to The Daily. 

SMC’s return surpasses the median of 15.5% returns at U.S. college and university endowments, as reported by Cambridge Associates. The five-year and 10-year returns on Stanford’s merged pool were 10.3% and 12.5%, respectively.  

“Our results this year were driven by strong performance from our public and private equity positions, along with a very healthy contribution from our absolute return strategies,” Wallace told the Stanford Report. “Performance in any one year should not be given undue weight.”

SMC invests Stanford’s endowment and other financial assets. The endowment and other financial gifts to the University are used to support research, faculty and financial aid at the school to “support Stanford’s academic mission,” according to SMC’s website. 

In the 2027 fiscal year, SMC will disburse over $2.2 billion to support the University, which represents one-fifth of Stanford’s operating budget. Stanford’s merged pool is composed of private, domestic and international equities, among other sources. Private equity makes up the largest share in the pool, contributing 38%. 

“This work, which took persistent care, creativity and discipline, has led to a more than doubling of the funds disbursed every year from the endowment to the University, an increase that will continue to grow as last year’s gains feed through to annual payout over time,” Wallace wrote.

More details on the endowment will become available in the coming months in the University’s fiscal-year end report.