Institutional Investor Recognizes
UConn Foundation as a Top Small Non-Profit

Posted October 26, 2010

The University of Connecticut Foundation was recently recognized as one of the top small non-profits of the year by Institutional Investor magazine.

The awards, through Institutional Investor’s Foundation & Endowment Money Management, recognize the foundations, endowments, consultants, markets and investment managers who stood out for their successes over the past year.  The publication’s editorial team select the nominees and winners following industrywide due diligence.

“Our approach to risk and asset allocation allowed us to weather the downturn of May and June exceedingly well,” says Kevin Edwards, the Foundation’s associate vice president for treasury services. “The portfolio dropped only 3 percent in the June quarter compared to a 12 percent loss in global equity markets.” 

The magazine’s editors noted that the University Of Connecticut Foundation “may have just $265 million in endowment assets, but its asset allocation rivals that of a much larger institution.”

“Half of the fund's assets sit in alternatives, which include private equity, venture capital, natural resources, real estate and hedge funds,” they said. “Over the past year, (the foundation’s investments) led by Edwards, has boosted its international equity mandates and targeted opportunistic private equity investments. The Huskies divide their investments into three categories, something not common for even much larger endowments: return-enhancing investments for growth, risk minimizing investments for stability and hedges against inflation. Thanks to that approach, UConn has returned 13 percent for the fiscal year-to-date.” (Fiscal year to date – at that point - was end of March.)

Winners are chosen on a number of factors including innovation, market impact, uniqueness of approach, and how well they met other criteria established by the editors for their award category.

The University of Connecticut Foundation is a tax-exempt corporation that operates exclusively to promote the educational, scientific, cultural, and recreational objectives of the University of Connecticut. As the primary fundraising vehicle for the University, the Foundation’s mission is to solicit, receive and administer gifts and financial resources from private sources to support UConn’s pursuit of excellence in teaching, research and public service. Private gifts support students, faculty, research and programs at all of UConn’s schools and colleges in addition to its world-class research centers and model athletics program.