endowments

Institutional Investor’s John Comtois highlights MPI’s new Transparency Lab research showing that elite endowments with early, targeted exposure to AI and digital assets—often via venture capital and hedge funds and some direct stakes—outperformed peers in FY25, adding as much as ~300 bps to returns when allocations were meaningful. The article quotes MPI co-founder & CEO Michael Markov: “It is plausible that AI and digital-asset exposure is now large enough to affect overall results,” noting implications for liquidity stress and governance as these positions scale.

We analyze annual endowment returns to offer a plausible explanation for MIT, Stanford, and Michigan’s spectacular FY25 results. The evidence points to AI and digital-asset themes.

Using its proprietary Stylus Pro software, MPI shows that concentrated exposure to these areas is a plausible source of superior performance at Michigan, MIT and Stanford, among other schools.

Institutional Investor ran Michael Markov’s op-ed, “How Dartmouth Actually Became the Ivy League’s Switzerland,” demonstrating—via quantitative analysis—that the endowment’s modest liquidity risk and limited reliance on government funding helped shield it from the political turbulence facing other universities.

The article highlights MPI’s endowment risk and liquidity research and quotes MPI CEO:

“This moment is a stress test on Harvard’s liquidity,” said chief executive Michael Markov.

Read: Elite U.S. Endowments: Government Funding and Liquidity Pressure

Visit: MPI Transparency Lab

According to our analysis, UPenn’s liquidity problem is real—but somewhat different from those faced by other elite schools. Dartmouth emerges as the most resilient to cash flow pressures.

Liese Klein, a reporter for CTInsider, interviews MPI CEO Michael Markov and Tim Yates, President and CEO of Commonfund Asset Management, to gain insight into the implications of Yale’s potential sale of “a major chunk of its private equity holdings.” While some may view the move as a routine rebalancing, the article highlights liquidity issues within the endowment portfolio, as revealed by MPI research.

“Political pressure is only part of a “perfect storm” currently impacting major private equity investors like Ivy League universities, said Michael Markov, CEO of quantitative analysis firm Markov Processes International. The company researches financial data on major university endowments to identify trends as part of its analysis of institutional investor strategy. Private equity returns have been down since 2022 as deals have lagged, with profits down to one-third of their former levels in some cases. Trump’s actions are adding to a liquidity squeeze as universities seek to continue operating… They needed a push from the White House to realize that they’re sitting on a time bomb,” Markov said. ” Click here to read full article.

The cover article of Institutional Investor, “Yale’s Potential PE Sale Won’t Solve Liquidity Challenges,” provides an analysis of the school’s rationale behind its $6 billion sale in the secondaries market. James Comtois offers a detailed account of financial challenges facing the endowment, using MPI endowment liquidity analysis framework and quoting MPI CEO.

Barron’s magazine cover story Harvard and Other Universities Face an ‘Existential Threat.’ Inside Trump’s War on Endowments offers a deep dive into the financial conundrum facing elite universities—and heavily cites MPI’s data and research Elite U.S. Endowments: Government Funding and Liquidity Pressure. “Yet squeezing more from endowments isn’t simply a matter of flipping a switch. Markov’s analysis suggests that universities such as Brown, Harvard, Yale, and Princeton—in part due to their high exposure to private equity—are already constrained to generate more liquidity,” write Barron’s Abby Schultz and Andy Serwer, echoing MPI’s assertion that poor endowment liquidity is a deliberate feature of the “Yale model” pioneered by the legendary David Swensen. They argue that government pressure comes at the worst possible time for these elite institutions.

Bloomberg’s John Authers “Points of Return” column past week titled Trade War: Victory Over Inflation Now Seems So Yesterday features a comprehensive analysis of challenges facing elite universities in light of potential suspension of federal funding based on MPI research Elite U.S. Endowments: Government Funding and Liquidity Pressure. “What’s preventing these elite schools from calling the president’s bluff? One reason is that their massive endowments are illiquid. Schools face differing financial strain depending on their reliance on government support. Markov Processes International’s analysis shows that about 37% of the biggest US endowments’ assets are in private equity, which is generally illiquid… MPI’s Michael Markov warns that they could thus be forced to sell PE holdings on the secondary market at a discount. The current market turmoil is pushing investors to weigh whether a discount might make sense for them,” writes Richard Abbey, citing MPI data and figures.