A Message
from the CEO/CIO
01
ANNUAL REPORT
2024–2025
At UVIMCO, our singular purpose is to support the University of Virginia’s mission—now and for generations to come. In fiscal year 2025, our disciplined investment strategy produced strong results. The Long Term Pool (LTP) generated a 12.4% return, contributing more than $1.7 billion in value to the University and its affiliated foundations. These investment gains provide essential funding for student scholarships, faculty recruitment and retention, pioneering research, and high-quality patient care—ensuring that UVA continues to thrive today while maintaining a strong foundation for enduring impact. Against a dynamic backdrop in higher education, our focus has never been more clear.
Markets continued to rally this year, even as new variables—like tariff uncertainty—added to an already complex global backdrop. While every year brings its own surprises, the bigger story is the remarkable stretch we’ve seen across global equities: the MSCI ACWI has compounded at nearly 18% annually over the past three years, a pace not seen since the 1980s. While such strong performance may suggest a more challenging environment for equities going forward, we remain grounded in our long-term, fundamentals-driven investment approach that positions us well to navigate whatever comes next.
Over longer investment horizons, the LTP has continued to deliver exceptional returns. The LTP has achieved annualized returns of 11.8% over five years and 9.2% over ten years—exceeding both our passive benchmark and the 8% target required to preserve the endowment’s purchasing power. These outcomes reflect the enduring strength of our manager relationships, our rigorous investment discipline, and our steadfast commitment to long-term value creation.
Our team approaches each day with a deep sense of responsibility to steward the University’s resources wisely. UVIMCO’s core values―integrity, service, excellence, and passion―help drive our sense of purpose and approach to investing. This year has been marked by an intense focus on execution, informed by the evolving needs of the University and the broader higher education landscape. We remain committed to being a trusted and strategic financial partner—equipping the University with the resilience and resources necessary to meet today’s challenges and those of the future.
Serving
the University
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The University of Virginia Investment Management Company (UVIMCO) provides investment management services to the University of Virginia (UVA) and University-associated organizations to serve the University’s mission.
UVA is an iconic public university with a long history of nationally ranked schools and programs, distinguished faculty, and innovative research discoveries. The University advanced to the no. 4 public school in the United States and remained the no. 3 public school for best value, according to U.S. News & World Report.
The partnership between UVIMCO, the University, and University-associated organizations is unique. Our collective work is steeped in a shared culture of excellence, commitment to being great and good, calling to serve the University, and deep roots in the Charlottesville community.
UVIMCO invests the endowment and other long-term funds of the University and associated organizations in its LTP with the primary objective of maximizing its long-term, inflation-adjusted returns commensurate with the risk level of the University. Over the past decade, UVIMCO’s active management of the LTP added $840 million in value (as of June 30, 2025) over investing in the passive policy portfolio.
As of June 30, 2025, UVIMCO’s assets under management were $15.5 billion in the Long Term Pool and $100.2 million in the Short Term Pool (Graph 1). Within UVIMCO’s LTP, $7.9 billion represents the Rector and Visitors’ endowment, $2.1 billion represents the University’s Strategic Investment Fund, $2.0 billion represents other University long-term assets, and $3.5 billion represents assets held by University-associated organizations, including the Darden School Foundation, Law School Foundation, UVA Alumni Association, and Jefferson Scholars Foundation.
OUR SUPPORT OF GREAT AND GOOD
UVA aims to be the best public university in 2030, and one of the very best in the world, whether public or private. UVIMCO’s investment management of the endowment and other long-term funds helps enable some of the key initiatives that advance this important and ambitious goal.
Forbes Names UVA a “New Ivy” for the Second Year READ MORE+
U.S. News Gives UVA Schools Superior Marks READ MORE+
McIntire School Opens Shumway Hall READ MORE+
Record $6 Billion Raised in UVA’s “Honor the Future” Campaign READ MORE+
UVA Health System Ranked #1 in Virginia, Among Top 50 Nationally READ MORE+
Since 2022, UVIMCO’s assets under management have grown from $13.6 billion to $15.5 billion (Graph 2). By generating returns in excess of the University’s spending rate plus inflation, UVIMCO is providing a steady source of income to support the University’s mission for future generations of students, faculty, staff, alumni, and patients. Each year, a portion of the endowment value is paid out to support the funds’ designated purposes, and earnings in surplus of this distribution build the endowment’s market value over time. This distribution supports an increasing number of scholarships, professorships, and research funds, and helps expand program offerings and facilities—with the ultimate effect of attracting some of the best students in the nation and world-class faculty to Grounds.
UVIMCO’s stewardship of the endowment is especially critical at a time when other revenue sources are under strain. For more than a decade, endowment distributions have contributed more to the University’s academic budget than state appropriations (Graph 3). Recent reductions in federal research funding and evolving regulatory pressures on higher education have added new challenges to institutional finances. In this environment, generating strong, long-term investment returns is even more essential to sustaining the University’s excellence and ensuring its continued leadership as one of the nation’s top public universities.
In Memoriam:
JOHN T. CASTEEN III
Former University of Virginia President
John T. Casteen III, former University of Virginia president, died in March 2025. Casteen was the University’s seventh president, serving between 1990 and 2010, and is widely viewed as one of the most consequential figures in the history of the University.
Notably, he had a significant impact on the University’s endowment. He is credited with growing the University’s endowment from $488 million to $5.1 billion as a strategy to insulate UVA from significant state budget cuts in the early 1990s. Casteen was deeply committed to making a UVA education possible for students of limited means through the AccessUVA initiative, which drove dramatic increases in financial aid. Today, UVA stands virtually alone as a public university practicing “need-blind admissions,” offering admission to students with no consideration of their financial situations. READ MORE+
Investment Philosophy & Tenets
UVIMCO’s investment philosophy guides its strategy through the challenges that the world brings to ensure that our decisions are sound and grounded in what we know works best for achieving excellent long-term results for the University.
WE FOCUS ON THE LONG TERM.
UVIMCO’s investment horizon is measured in years, if not decades, which aligns with the mission of the University as well as the perpetual nature of an endowment.
WE BELIEVE IN ACTIVE MANAGEMENT.
UVIMCO has a long history of partnering with exceptional investment managers who have demonstrated the ability to generate alpha and outperform the passive policy benchmark through disciplined investment processes, novel insights, and hard work.
WE EMPLOY A GLOBAL, FLEXIBLE INVESTMENT MANDATE.
UVIMCO’s investment process is structured and disciplined, but also flexible and innovative in response to constantly evolving global financial markets.
WE EVALUATE AND MANAGE RISK.
UVIMCO dynamically measures and manages risk based on the risk tolerance and capital requirements of the University.
Rotunda & The Lawn, Central Grounds
Performance
03
UVIMCO’s primary objective is to generate inflation-adjusted, long-term returns in excess of the University’s spending rate, thereby achieving our goal of generating a steady source of income to support UVA’s mission.
Our investment performance and strategy start with successful asset allocation and alignment with asset owners. UVIMCO’s investment policy includes a policy portfolio allocation, which our Board of Directors establishes based on the University’s risk tolerance and expected future capital requirements. The Board carefully considers capital market risk and return estimates to ensure that the policy portfolio is appropriately designed to achieve the objectives of the Long Term Pool. The policy portfolio serves as an indicator of how the endowment would fare under passive management.
UVIMCO has a proven track record of partnering with world class investment managers who have demonstrated the ability to generate alpha and outperform the passive policy portfolio. Our returns relative to the policy portfolio demonstrate the added value of active management through our internal investment team and external investment managers.
Our managers invest in Public Equity, Long/Short Equity, Private Equity, Real Assets, Absolute Return, Credit, and Fixed Income. Graph 4 displays the trends in the asset allocation of the LTP over the past decade, with shifts in recent years primarily due to relative performance.
Fiscal year 2025 was marked by significant volatility in global equity markets. The MSCI ACWI rose 4.5% through March, fell 10% in April on tariff concerns, then rallied sharply to finish up 16.7% for the fiscal year, with gains broadly shared across regions and sectors. In the U.S., the S&P 500 gained 15.1% during the fiscal year and reached new highs on 36 trading days. As a group, the “Magnificent 7” stocks contributed meaningfully to domestic equity returns (Bloomberg Magnificent 7: +24.2%), but only three outperformed the S&P 500 (Tesla: +61%, Meta: +47%, and Nvidia: +28%). Sector leadership broadened beyond technology to include industrials, financials, and utilities. Small caps lagged (+7.7%) amid economic uncertainty. International equities outperformed the S&P 500 for the first time since fiscal year 2017. Developed markets gained 19.3% (MSCI World ex-USA), and emerging markets rose 16.0%. China rebounded (+34.1%) on stimulus and renewed tech optimism; India (+2.3%) cooled after a strong multi-year rally. A weaker U.S. dollar (-8.5%) boosted foreign equity returns. The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield fell 17 bps during the fiscal year to 4.2%. The Fed cut rates early in the fiscal year, then held steady, as inflation moderated to 2.7%. The blended Bloomberg U.S. Treasury Bond Index rose 5.6%, with TIPS (+5.8%) modestly ahead of nominal Treasuries (+5.3%).
In this environment, the LTP delivered a 12.4% return in fiscal year 2025, generating substantial value for the University. Public Equity was a major driver for the LTP, gaining 20.0% and outperforming the MSCI ACWI (+16.7%). This reversal from recent years of relative public equity underperformance reflects the strength of our active managers and the impact of targeted portfolio enhancements. Our Private Equity investments also produced an excellent 14.3% gain during the fiscal year, benefiting from the multi-year rally in risk assets. Long/Short Equity and Absolute Return faced headwinds from specific themes but remain important sources of diversification and liquidity.
While the LTP’s three-year annualized return of 7.2% trails the passive portfolio benchmark by 6.6%, this period highlights the nature of our investment strategy. Global public equities delivered an extraordinary 17.9% annualized return during the past three years—over twice as high as historical norms—while private market valuations adjusted more gradually amid limited liquidity events. Over the long term, our approach to equity-related investments has delivered exceptional results. The LTP’s composite Private Equity return of 14.9% per year over the past two decades exceeds the MSCI ACWI by over 6%. This exemplary long-term performance record reflects the quality of our managers, the strength of our sourcing, and our ability to capture the illiquidity premium over time.
Our commitment to disciplined, long-term investing across the LTP’s strategies continues to produce results that meet and exceed UVA’s objectives: 11.8% over five years, 9.2% over ten years, and 9.6% over twenty years (Table 1). We are proud of this record and confident in our ability to continue delivering outstanding value for the University.
Additionally, UVIMCO consistently outperforms its institutional peers in addition to securing long-term returns above the policy benchmark and required return. Over the past twenty years, UVIMCO’s annualized return (+9.6%) has far exceeded the 7.1% garnered by median peers (Graph 5) according to the Wilshire Trust Universe Comparison Service (TUCS).
Being Great and Good:
Impact Stories
04
An endowed gift is a powerful investment in the future of the University and its affiliated organizations. When invested in UVIMCO’s Long Term Pool, endowed funds serve as a sustainable source of funding professorships to recruit and retain distinguished faculty; scholarships and fellowships to support deserving students; lectureships to bring distinguished speakers to Grounds; library acquisitions to support world-class scholarship; and academic prizes to recognize outstanding students and faculty. The University’s unrestricted endowment generates vital funding for operations and enables the University to respond to important needs as they arise.
UVA HEALTH RESEARCHERS FIND HIV DRUGS TREAT DIABETES-RELATED EYE CONDITION
Researchers from the University of Virginia have discovered that an existing treatment for HIV can substantially lower the risk of diabetic patients developing macular edema, a serious eye condition that can lead to vision loss. Current treatment for macular edema requires painful monthly injections that can cost more than $20,000 per year. UVA’s new discovery could provide patients with an effective and drastically less expensive alternative.
STATE-OF-THE-ART MANNING INSTITUTE OF BIOTECHNOLOGY RECEIVES ADDITIONAL $50 MILLION IN FUNDING
In addition to existing funding from UVA and the Paul Manning family, UVA Health received two anonymous $25 million gifts to support the development of the University’s Institute of Biotechnology. Once completed, the Paul and Diane Manning Institute of Biotechnology will house a cutting-edge biomedical research facility that supports the pursuit of new treatments and cures for the most challenging medical conditions. The Institute is expected to cultivate a statewide ecosystem of biotechnology innovation and a clinical trials network aimed at expanding patient access to potential new treatments.
GIFT TO UVA MEN’S TENNIS CHARTS NEW PATH FORWARD
Gene and Terry Lockhard, UVA graduates, endowed a fund to support the University’s championship men’s tennis program. The gift immediately establishes a mechanism to produce additional funding for student-athlete scholarships, coaching staff salaries, operating budget supplements and facility enhancements. In the future, when the program is fully endowed, the collective endowments should generate enough income to cover the majority of player scholarships, program salaries and annual operating expenses without a need for annual fundraising or drawing on the UVA Athletics budget.
Investor
Responsibility
05
Our 2025 Investor Responsibility Report outlines the significant progress made toward our investor responsibility goals highlighted in our Investor Responsibility Framework. We believe that consideration of responsible investment practices supports our mission to deliver long-term financial results for the University. If you want to learn more about UVIMCO’s responsible investing efforts, check out our Responsibility page.
Meet
the Team
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UVIMCO Board of Directors
UVIMCO’s Board of Directors is comprised of a diverse and distinguished group of industry leaders, who provide essential guidance around UVIMCO’s investment strategy to ensure the continued success of the University of Virginia’s mission.
UVIMCO Leadership
UVIMCO’s team is comprised of investment and operational professionals who are passionate about the University and dedicated to achieving excellence in investment management. We value integrity, service, excellence, and passion. We strive for UVIMCO to be the preeminent university endowment in the world by generating superior investment returns, maintaining an exceptional reputation, and serving as a true partner to the University. Our leadership team members bring strong investment acumen, diverse skill sets, deep knowledge of the industry, and enthusiasm to serve the University every day.
