University Times

Pitt’s endowment fund income distribution is up for the third year in a row.

In a June 23 meeting, the Board of Trustees investment committee approved a distribution of $4.36 per share — an increase of 2.1 percent over the prior year, said Arthur G. Ramicone, senior vice chancellor and chief financial officer.

The distribution had languished at about $3.80 per share from FY11 to FY14 before being increased 5 percent in 2015 to $4.01 and rising another 6.5 percent in FY16 to $4.27 per share. (See June 25, 2015, University Times.)

The University’s spending policy provides for an annual distribution of the greater of 4.25 percent of the consolidated endowment fund’s three-year average fair market value or a “floor” of the prior year’s distribution, provided that the distribution is not less than 2 percent or more than 7 percent of the trailing three-year average.

Pitt’s endowment is made up of individual funds designated for purposes such as scholarships, fellowships and faculty chairs.

Funds typically are invested as part of the University’s consolidated investment pool, with individual endowed funds “purchasing” a number of shares in the pool and income distributed on a per-share basis — similar to an individual’s investment in a mutual fund.

—Kimberly K. Barlow