2022-2023 Endowment Report

December 1, 2023

As we reflect on another successful fiscal year, it is an honor to present Trinity’s annual Endowment Report. The endowment and its areas of support represent a testament to your unwavering commitment to Trinity’s educational mission, its students, and the enduring legacy of our beloved institution. This annual report provides a snapshot of the endowment’s investment statistics, including investment allocation, portfolio performance, and endowed designations, and it celebrates the transformative impact of your generous support of Trinity.

Through generations of charitable contributions from you and other University donors as well as steadfast, long-term stewardship of the endowment, endowed support continues to grow across a diverse set of programs and initiatives that permeate and shape campus. These programs and areas of support span the breadth of the University’s academic, research, athletics, space-making, and campus life which, in turn, shape the minds of the next generation of leaders, innovators, and global citizens, ultimately setting the stage for a brighter, more promising future.

Across the University’s academic departments, Trinity has continued its commitment to excellence. Your contributions have expanded scholarship programs, ensuring talented students from diverse backgrounds have access to a Trinity education; invested in undergraduate research initiatives; supported pioneering faculty endeavors; and fostered an environment of intellectual curiosity that truly distinguishes Trinity University.

Beyond academics, our campus continues evolving to meet the educational demands of the future. Your support has funded infrastructure improvements, created state-of-the-art facilities, and helped shape an inclusive, vibrant community that is the heart of Trinity’s liberal arts education.

We express heartfelt gratitude to you and all of our esteemed donors who have made these transformative endeavors possible. The dedication and generosity of the Trinity community underscores the value of a Trinity education and the importance of investing in future generations of Tigers to come.

With deep appreciation,

Craig Crow
Chief Investment Officer

Michael Bacon '89
Vice President for Alumni Relations and Development

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Trinity University EndowmEnt 2022-2023

At A Glance

Data as of May 31, 2023

 

$1.664 billion

value of endowment

 

40%

percentage of Trinity’s operating budget supported by the endowment

 

$68.1 million

distributed from the endowment to Trinity’s operating budget

 

$9.1 million

new gifts made to the endowment in FY2023

 

4.5%^1

endowment spending policy rate

 

635

number of individual endowed funds

 

+8.2% 1-year annual return*

+9.1% 10-year annualized return*

1. Approximately 51% of endowments in the Cambridge Associates FY22 College and University Spending Policies and Practices survey reported a target spending rate ranging between 4-4.99%. n=174.
*Long-Term Investment Pool and directly held asset performance, net of fees, as of June 30, 2023

Trinity University's Endowment

The endowment value decreased by a net $48.8 million in FY2023. Investment returns contributed $12.8 million across the Long-Term Investment Pool (LTIP) and Funds Held-In-Trust (FHIT) portfolios, with $9.1 million provided through gifts and other additions and a total of $77.9 million distributed to the University for both the operating budget and non-operating activities.

2. $9.1 is calculated from $6.4 in FY2023 outright gifts plus $2.7 increase in receivables

Beginning Value

$1,712.6

Gains and Income

$12.8

Net Endowment Gifts^2

$9.1

Other Transfers

$7.1

University Distributions

$(77.9)

Ending Value

$1,663.7

(in millions, data as of May 31, 2023)

Portfolio Value Growth Over Time

2013-2023

Source: Trinity University audited financial statements, as of 05/31/2023

Compound Annual Returns

The long-term financial objective of the Long-Term Investment Pool is to provide a stable and consistent level of ongoing support for the University’s operations while maintaining and enhancing the real purchasing power of the endowment fund in perpetuity. This chart illustrates annualized returns over trailing periods within the past 10 years. Due to volatile markets, returns for the June 30 year-end improved markedly to 8.2% versus the fiscal year-end May 31 trailing 1-year timeframe.

Performance data as of June 30, 2023, and includes LTIP and directly held asset performance

LTIP Asset Allocation

Trinity's Long-Term Investment Pool (LTIP) consists of assets managed by the Office of Investments (a team of six investment and operations professionals) and governed by Trinity's Investments Committee (a committee of the Board of Trustees).

To support the in-perpetuity status of the endowment, the University’s LTIP asset allocation strategy captures endowment growth through investments in a variety of asset classes across global financial markets. The LTIP has a diversified asset base with active investments in 75 external investment managers.

Asset allocation, diversification, and manager selection are all critical to driving long-term endowment returns and managing volatility through different economic cycles. Trinity’s investment strategy is designed to ensure the endowment is positioned for strong, long-term risk-adjusted results, and Trinity seeks to partner with the best investment managers in each asset class.

Trinity has been building the Private Investments allocation over time due to better relative long-term return opportunities.

Distributions

The endowment is key to supporting Trinity’s educational mission

In FY2023, Trinity’s endowment distributed $77.9 million to the University. Of that amount, a net $68.1 million went to the operating budget, representing 40.0% of total operating revenues. This support has increased over time—as an example, in 2013, Trinity’s endowment supported 28% of the operating budget and has since steadily expanded. This growing support over time has bridged the gap between the cost to deliver a Trinity education and the amount students pay to attend the University, allowing Trinity to offer all the benefits of a leading liberal arts education.

 

Funds from the endowment, in the form of annual cash distributions, play a significant role in the operating budget for the University. As the second largest financial resource for the University operating budget—behind student tuition and fees—the endowment is key in supporting Trinity’s educational mission. The amount of support the endowment provides to the operating budget is double the average of private colleges and universities, which in turn is markedly higher than that of public universities.

Cambridge Associates' FY22 Spending Policies and Practices Report; 80 private colleges and universities included in data set.

Campus Impact

The Long-Term Investment Pool (LTIP) consists of 635 individual endowed funds. Approximately 59% of endowed funds constitute temporary and permanently restricted endowments, which are gifts restricted by donors to provide long-term funding for designated purposes. The remaining funds represent unrestricted endowments, which can include quasi-endowments (money that the Board of Trustees designates for key University purposes and treats as endowments). Both of these classifications are governed by the University spending policy and actively contribute to Trinity’s operating budget. The 635 endowment funds are broadly categorized and support many areas across campus.

LTIP Funds

Unrestricted: $524 million
No donor restrictions but may contain designation by Trustees for an endowment

Restricted: $746 million
Includes temporary and permanently restricted donor funds

Total: $1.27 billion

 

General

186 funds  ||  $708 million
The endowment supports University expenses, such as recruiting and retaining exceptional faculty and funding undergraduate research. 

 

Loans

8 funds  ||  $55 million
The endowment supports a loan fund program for student financial aid and academic support.

 

Library

20 funds  ||  $12 million
These endowment funds provide support for the Coates Library's collection and resources. 

 

Buildings and Grounds

32 funds  ||  $92 million
Funds from endowments support buildings on campus as well as the care of Miller Fountain.

 

Faculty Support

64 funds  ||  $139 million
Endowment funds support endowed professorships, lectureships, faculty development, and more. 

 

Scholarship

325 funds  ||  $263 million
The largest number of endowment funds supports undergraduate and graduate scholarships.

 

light gray triangle pointing down

 

Supporting Student Scholarships

The University increased annual financial support for Trinity students by providing nearly $75 million of scholarships and financial aid in FY2023, of which $63 million (83%) was defined as ‘unfunded’ aid—not endowed through scholarship funds. While 16 new endowment funds dedicated to student scholarships were added in FY2023, unfunded aid has continued to increase markedly over the last 15 years to fund growing student need. With such a high balance of current financial support generated from unfunded aid, Trinity is committed to raising endowed scholarships to continue to build a permanent foundation for sustained access to a Trinity education.

Donor Spotlight

The Walls Family Scholarship Challenge Paves the Way for
First-Generation Tigers

In early 2022, Trustee Emerita Lissa Walls Cribb ’80 established the Walls Scholarship Challenge to support Trinity’s first-generation students. The initiative gives donors the opportunity to create up to 20 scholarships with a gift of $50,000, with the additional $50,000 needed to establish a named scholarship funded by a transformational gift from the Walls family—$1 million in matching funds. To date, 15 donors have established 17 separate scholarships through the Walls Scholarship Challenge to support the education of Trinity’s first-generation students.

Hear from some of the donors why being part of the Walls Family of supporters means so much to them.
 

photo of a family of four smiling with a colorful background

Jeanna ’08 and Cabral Balreira
Familia Balreira Endowed Scholarship Fund

“With values rooted in family and in higher education, Familia Balreira participated in the Walls Scholarship Challenge with excitement and joy—we both had ‘nontraditional’ college experiences as undergraduate transfer students who faced life-changing financial decisions during our college careers, and we simply could not have obtained our undergraduate degrees without significant donor support. Taking the Walls Challenge was just one way we felt we could pass it on, taking the trust donors had in us and sharing it with first-generation Trinity students in return.”

 

Robert ’86 and Nancy Rosales P’25
Robert and Nancy Rosales Endowed Scholarship Fund

“As a first-generation student needing financial assistance to attend Trinity, the support provided by the administration, faculty, and alumni, coupled with the development of lifelong relationships built with my fellow students through a wide range of experiences including Trinity Football, Bengal Lancers Fraternity, and various student clubs, changed my life forever. The Walls Family Challenge was such an amazing opportunity to give back to Trinity. Our family felt compelled to support this amazing gift. Nancy, Preston, Reed ’25, and I hope the establishment of this scholarship will provide future first-generation students with the same opportunity and experiences for years to come.”

Student Spotlight

Robert Furuya ’24

Recipient of the Semmes Distinguished Scholars in Science Scholarship and Carolyn Calvert Endowed Music Scholarship

Robert Furuya ’24 is just as masterful composing new music on the keys of one of Trinity’s Steinway pianos as he is machining with a Haas Mini Mill CNC router in Trinity’s Makerspace.

Furuya double majors in music composition and engineering science, and his STEM-focused Semmes scholarship provides full tuition as well as a $5,000 stipend for research support, professional travel, materials, and supplies.

“What Trinity has allowed me to do with these two majors is a pretty unique thing,” says Furuya, who also finds time for a math minor. “I haven’t seen a lot of other schools where you can do both.”

In engineering science, he has worked on projects such as an autonomous planetary rover. Furuya also plays piano, performs in solo recitals and in Trinity’s Handbell Ensemble, and writes music for various types of ensembles.

A student explains his engineering project to someone at the Summer Undergraduate Rsearch and Internship Symposium

“In June 2023, I went to Italy for a premiere of my composition in the Alba Music Festival, which was actually funded in part by another music scholarship—the Calvert scholarship—and I attended a sound and music computing conference in Stockholm with help from the Semmes stipend,” Furuya says. “Seeing your music brought to life by live performers is an amazing experience.”

Endowment Supports Experiential Learning Curriculum

This year marks the 25th anniversary of Trinity’s Student Managed Fund (SMF), which gives select Trinity students the opportunity to manage a multi-million dollar portion of endowment assets, bridging the gap between finance theory and real-world application with a hands-on approach to investment management.

The SMF classes’ advanced curriculum includes both portfolio construction and in-depth equity research, where students measure returns and attribution based on asset allocation and stock selection. The investment approach has evolved into a fully invested portfolio with the foundation of core, passive exchange-traded funds complemented by a smaller, actively managed satellite portfolio of stock holdings.

photo of a panel of individuals in front of a large screen and an audience

This past October, Trinity hosted an investments-focused panel (pictured) along with various SMF anniversary events during Alumni Weekend, connecting students with alumni in diverse finance-adjacent roles. Coming soon, a formal Student Managed Fund Council will be formed to address the fund’s mission, advise students and professors, and frame SMF’s overall goals and achievements.

How has the SMF experience impacted Trinity alumni over the past 25 years? Hear from former SMF students themselves.

“SMF was a unique experiential learning opportunity that allowed me to develop practical knowledge and skills that I will rely on throughout my career. I studied and analyzed equity investments in a team setting while making important decisions that improved the financial health of the University.”
– Deral Robison ’23
Risk and Portfolio Management Analyst, Teacher Retirement System of Texas

“The critical thinking and public speaking skills I developed in the SMF class have paid dividends in my current profession, along with the accountability that came with managing millions of dollars of the University’s endowment.”
– Jorge Haddad ’17
Assistant Vice President, Relationship Manager, AllianceBernstein

“The SMF was by far the most important class I took to prepare me for my career in wealth management. I am extremely proud that Trinity saw the value in offering this opportunity long before it was available at most schools. Having met with the current class of managers, I know the SMF is in great hands for sustained success in the future.”
– Tyler Davies ’00
Investment Advisor, Sendero Wealth Management

If you have any questions about this report, please contact the Office of the Vice President for Finance and Administration at 210-999-7306 or the Office of the Vice President for Alumni Relations and Development at 210-999-7328.