UVIMCO provides investment management services to the University of Virginia and associated organizations to serve the University’s mission. UVIMCO’s primary objective is to maximize the long-term, inflation-adjusted returns commensurate with the risk level of the University. Its secondary objective is to secure higher returns than the passive policy portfolio, which provides asset allocation guidelines for the Long Term Pool.
As of June 30, 2024, UVIMCO managed $14.2 billion in its Long Term Pool and $88.3 million in its Short Term Pool. UVIMCO’s long-term performance is critical to the success of the University and associated organizations. Over the last few decades, UVIMCO has generated remarkable returns for future generations of students, faculty, alumni, and patients. UVIMCO consistently outperforms the passive policy portfolio and its median peer according to TUCS All Master Trust Universe.
During the twelve months ending June 30, 2024, the LTP returned 7.5% and earned $1 billion in returns for investors. Public Equity (+10.5%) and Long/Short Equity (+7.4%) trailed the MSCI ACWI (+19.9%) by a large margin, in part due to our longstanding biases to small-caps and emerging markets, as well as underexposure to the select mega-cap companies that led the market rallies. Private strategies collectively generated 4.3%, while Real Assets (+10.8%) and our diversifying strategies (+6.5%) provided important diversification and meaningful returns for the LTP. The primary factor impacting fiscal year performance is the LTP’s allocation to private investments, which drives significant basis risk versus the all-liquid passive benchmark.
Historically, we have been well paid for assuming market, manager, and liquidity risks that differ from that of the policy portfolio. Our longer-term performance continues to be excellent compared to both the policy benchmark and the required return. Over the past ten and twenty years, the LTP has generated annualized returns of 8.7% and 9.7%, respectively, exceeding the policy portfolio and the required return needed to preserve the purchasing power of the endowment.
Read UVIMCO’s 2023-2024 Annual Report and Executive Summary to learn more about our fiscal year 2024 performance.
UVIMCO invests with exceptional long-term returns in mind while maintaining an appropriate risk that is profiled for the Long Term Pool in all market environments. UVIMCO’s investment strategies, Public Equity, Long/Short Equity, Private Equity, Real Assets, Absolute Return, Credit, Fixed Income, and Cash, make positive contributions to the Long Term Pool’s absolute and relative performance over time.
UVIMCO seeks to secure higher returns than the passive policy portfolio, which represents an appropriate mix of diversified market risks for institutional investors like the University. The passive policy portfolio is comprised of public market indices: 75% equity represented by the MSCI All Country World Index (ACWI) and 25% fixed income represented by a blended Bloomberg U.S. Treasury Bond Index. UVIMCO’s asset allocation in the Long Term Pool has been moderately stable over the last decade, with shifts in recent years due primarily to relative performance.
UVIMCO’s investment philosophy guides its strategy though 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.
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.
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.
UVIMCO’s investment process is structured and disciplined, but also flexible and innovative in response to constantly evolving global financial markets.
UVIMCO dynamically measures and manages risk based on the risk tolerance and capital requirements of the University.
To learn more about UVIMCO’s historical investment performance, check our UVIMCO’s Annual Reports:
