12 You’ll be marking dual milestones in 2025: completing 25 years of University service in September and your retirement. How have our endowment funds grown and changed in that time? When I first arrived, the University was spending its endowment funds at an unsustainably high rate. The number of gifts to endowed funds were far below peer metrics, and investment performance was below the level needed to sustain the University’s finances. Some alumni and faculty still remember those challenging years in the 1990s. Since the early 2000s, University leaders—together with the team in the Investment Office—have worked very hard to remedy all these challenges. Investment performance is now at a level that allows steady growth in endowed support, and it is competitive among peers. Endowment spending balances current need with support for future generations of our faculty and students. The compounding of gifts to endowed funds over the last 25 years has made the largest difference. Endowed funds represent a big part of the University’s long-term plan for financial sustainability. Why are these funds so vital? The last campaign raised more than $600 million of new endowment funds, which grew to $1 billion through investment performance. 5 QUESTIONS with DOUG PHILLIPS Senior Vice President and Chief Investment Officer
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