ManyPeaks.com

Last week, Harvard University’s endowment fund released its investment performance figures for its fiscal year ended June 30. At just over 23% to a new high of $35 billion, the endowment’s returns were nothing short of spectacular — especially for an institution of its size. The S&P 500 (using its proxy, SPY) came in at 19.4% over the same period.

The endowment’s new chief, Mohammed El-Erian, came over from giant bond manager Pimco last year. CNBC reported that in his commentary, El-Arian preached that such heady results are unlikely to be repeated this year.

I really liked his one of his specific themes: that market participants “that did best the last few years were those who bought liquid assets and levered up.” He continued: “The next few years will belong to those who prudently manage risk.”

On that note, Harvard has about 1/4 of its endowment invested in alternative investments — hedge funds, private equity, timberland, etc.

I was very pleased to see the University of Virginia’s endowment results reported in the Harvard story: a strong +25.2%, to a new high of $4.3 billion. Last I heard, UVa had 49% of assets allocated to alternatives.

Definitely makes me want to donate..