Endowment Investment Report

The Campanile Foundation assumed the responsibility for the San Diego State University Endowment on July 1, 2000. The Campanile Foundation created a consolidated endowment pool on that date to provide a vehicle through which donors can provide permanent funding for schools, colleges and programs of their choice. The Endowment Pool consists of more than 700 separate endowment accounts and is similar to a mutual fund in that each individual endowment buys units into the fun. The Board of Directors of the Campanile Foundation manages the investment of endowment funds through a formal Investment Policy Statement that provides the operating guidelines to the Finance & Investment Committee. He Investment Policy Statement is consistent with the fiduciary obligations of the not-for-profit organizations under federal and state laws, CSU policies, and the Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act (UPMIFA) and the Uniform Prudent Investor Act (UPIA).

The benefit of endowment giving flows from the ability to invest funds for the long-term to provide not only an annual distribution for spending, but growth through the re-investment of returns in excess of the annual spending rate to ensure that the gift will not be eroded by inflation. The spending policy determines how much of the total return (income and appreciated) will be distributed to support programs and how much will be re-invested in the endowment fund. 2011-2012, the Board of Directors set the annual spending policy of the endowment fund at 4.0% of a three-year moving average of market value. The purpose of a moving average spending policy is to reduce the volatility of distributions that might be produced by the up and down financial markets.

The portfolio is invested in accordance with a core principle of successful investing which acknowledges that a diversified portfolio across different asset classes should provide a sustainable rate of income while minimizing the volatility that affects all investments to varying degrees. The portfolio equilibrium, increase value and support donor’s spending over the long term. The allocation strategy spending policy and governance are incorporated in the Campanile Foundation Investment Policy Statement.

The target is based upon simulations of historical returns in the past 100 years for different asset allocations. The current asset allocation mix is designed to return the long-term objective of 6.5%. The Campanile Foundation currently has allocations with twelve different investment managers covering the following asset investment classes: Large-Cap Growth, Large-Cap Value, Small-Cap Value, International, Fixed Income, Real Estate, and Alternative Assets.

The total average return for the past ten fiscal years ranked in the top 19% of university endowments.

The total return of the fund as of September 30, 2012 on a 1-year, 3-year, 5-year and 10-year basis was 20.4 %, 8.8%, 2.6% and 8.8% respectively.

For additional information please click on the following link to view the Endowment Investment Summary.

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