Financial endowment

===Economic downturn===
Research published in the [[American Economic Review]] indicates that major academic endowments often act in times of economic downturn in a way opposite of the intention of the endowment. This behavior is referred to as [[endowment hoarding]], reflecting the way that economic downturns often lead to endowments decreasing their payouts rather than increasing them to compensate for the downturn.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Brown|first1=Jeffrey R.|last2=Dimmock|first2=Stephen G.|last3=Kang|first3=Jun-Koo|last4=Weisbenner|first4=Scott J.|date=March 2014|title=How University Endowments Respond to Financial Market Shocks: Evidence and Implications|journal=American Economic Review|publisher=[[American Economic Association]]|volume=104|issue=3|pages=931–962|doi=10.1257/aer.104.3.931|doi-access=free|hdl=10220/20933|hdl-access=free}}</ref>

Large U.S.-based college and university endowments, which had posted large, highly publicized gains in the 1990s and 2000s, faced significant losses of principal in the [[2008 economic downturn]]. [[Harvard University endowment|The Harvard University endowment]], which held $37 billion in June 2008, was reduced to $26 billion by mid-2009.<ref>[http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view/20090911harvard_fund_loses_11b_decline_less_than_predicted/ Harvard fund loses $11B], a September 11, 2009 article from the ''[[Boston Herald]]'' {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090915194554/http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view/20090911harvard_fund_loses_11b_decline_less_than_predicted/|date=September 15, 2009}}</ref>  [[Yale University]], the pioneer of an approach that involved investing heavily in alternative investments such as real estate and [[private equity]], reported an endowment of $16 billion as of September 2009, a 30% annualized loss that was more than predicted in December 2008.<ref>[https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB125261190641700555 Yale Endowment Down 30%] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180414092025/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB125261190641700555|date=2018-04-14}}, a September 10, 2009 article from ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]''</ref>  At [[Stanford University]], the endowment was reduced from $17 billion to $12 billion as of September 2009.<ref>[http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/09/02/BAQ519HJA6.DTL Stanford University endowment loses big] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090906103714/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fc%2Fa%2F2009%2F09%2F02%2FBAQ519HJA6.DTL|date=2009-09-06}}, a September 3, 2009 article from the ''[[San Francisco Chronicle]]''</ref> [[Brown University]]'s endowment fell 27 percent to $2.04 billion in the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2009.<ref>{{cite web|title=Politics|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=ajuf5s.QOqzY|access-date=14 April 2018|website=Bloomberg }}</ref>  [[George Washington University]] lost 18% in that same fiscal year, down to $1.08 billion.<ref>[http://media.www.gwhatchet.com/media/storage/paper332/news/2009/08/27/News/Gw.Endowment.Drops.18.Percent-3758164.shtml GW endowment drops 18 percent] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090831222725/http://media.www.gwhatchet.com/media/storage/paper332/news/2009/08/27/News/Gw.Endowment.Drops.18.Percent-3758164.shtml|date=August 31, 2009}}, an August 27, 2009 article from ''[[The GW Hatchet]]''</ref>

In Canada, after the financial crisis in 2008, [[University of Toronto]] reported a loss of 31% ($545 million) of its previous year-end value in 2009. The loss is attributed to over-investment in hedge funds.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Burrows|first=Malcom D.|year=2010|title=The End of Endowments?|journal=The Philanthropist|volume=23|issue=1|pages=52–61}}</ref>