SMU, Yale Trimmed Real Estate Investments Before Values Cooled
- Most investments are in direct holdings or private equity
- Asset allocation pruning detailed in congressional inquiry
Yale.
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Large endowments including Southern Methodist University and Yale University reduced investments in real estate through the middle of last year before values cooled, a timely move that could help their performance.
Southern Methodist’s $1.5 billion endowment decreased its real estate holdings by 84 percent to 1.2 percent -- the biggest drop among schools -- in the year ended June 2015 from two years earlier, according to responses to a congressional inquiry. Yale trimmed its allocation 31 percent to 14 percent in its $25.6 billion fund in the same period.