LP profile

University of Pittsburgh Endowment

Endowment · Pittsburgh, United States

#176 LP Ranking #7 of 108 endowments

35 VC firms backed

$5.5B AUM

~$440M Allocated to VC (est. 8%)

01 · Background

Who University of Pittsburgh Endowment is.

Historical Background: The University of Pittsburgh was founded in 1787 as the Pittsburgh Academy, making it one of the oldest institutions of higher learning in the United States. The university's endowment was formally established in 1871 under the leadership of Chancellor Woods.
Source of Capital: The endowment's capital is primarily composed of gifts from donors, which are intended to be held in perpetuity to generate earnings for the university. A portion of the endowment is classified as "quasi-endowment," which consists of university funds, such as operating surpluses, that the Board of Trustees has chosen to invest and manage like an endowment.
Major Events: In February 2022, Jeffer Choudhry was appointed as the new Chief Investment Officer to oversee the management of the university's Consolidated Endowment Fund. The Investment Committee approved updates to the Consolidated Endowment Fund's statement of governance and investment objectives in January 2023, which included modifications to the asset allocation policy.
Allocation Strategy: The endowment's assets are managed within a Consolidated Endowment Fund (CEF), which aims to support various university activities including financial aid, scholarships, and research. The university has a set spending policy with a distribution rate of 4.25% for the main endowment and 4.75% for the quasi-endowment funds, based on a three-year average of the endowment's market value. The endowment's investment strategy includes allocating funds across various asset classes, with specific target weights and ranges defined in its statement of governance.

Sources

02 · Fund commitments

The funds University of Pittsburgh Endowment backs.

University of Pittsburgh Endowment is a limited partner in 35 funds. 10 of them place in the Power Law Investor Ranking; those lead, best-ranked first.

Accel

United States

#4 Power Law

New Enterprise Associates

Adams Capital Management

United States

Alloy Ventures

United States

Audax Private Equity

United Kingdom

Bay City Capital

United States

Birchmere Ventures

United States

INCE Capital

China

TVM Capital Life Science

Germany

03 · Allocation

How University of Pittsburgh Endowment’s fund book is spread.

The 35 funds University of Pittsburgh Endowment backs, by where the manager is headquartered and how many funds that manager has raised.

Where those managers are based

By fund headquarters.

North America 3086%
Europe 411%
Rest of world 13%

United States 30 · Germany 2 · China 1 · Switzerland 1

How established those managers are

Managers grouped by how many funds they have raised — across the 23 of 35 with a fund history on record.

Emerging funds · 10

Established funds · 13

5 1

3 2

2 3

1 4

5 5-6

3 7-9

1 10-14

3 15+

Funds raised by the manager

04 · Other LPs

Other LPs.

Other endowments in the Power Law LP ranking, closest to University of Pittsburgh Endowment by combined power-law score — North America first, then the nearest worldwide.

🇺🇸

University of Michigan Endowment

LP rank #3 · United States

$18B AUM 81 VC funds backed

🇺🇸

The Heinz Endowments

LP rank #130 · United States

$2.3B AUM 45 VC funds backed

🇺🇸

University of Washington Endowment

LP rank #140 · United States

$6.2B AUM 28 VC funds backed