The University's endowment surpassed $2 billion for the first time, the Board of Visitors announced April 15.
According to a report released by the Board's Finance Committee, the University endowment's ending balance was $2,013,600,000 as of March 31.
"The endowment does support a substantial part of the budget so it is important that growth is at least on pace with inflation," said Collette Sheehy, University vice president of management and budget.
Vice President of Finance Yoke San Reynolds said the endowment is supported mainly by two sources.
"We knew the endowment has been gaining steadily due to gifts and investment returns," Reynolds said. "Our generous donors as well as our investment management have contributed to the growth."
As of Feb. 29, eight months into the fiscal year, the endowment's total return was 11.8 percent with strong performances in domestic and international equity markets. The domestic equities recorded a return of 22.7 percent, while the international equities had a return of 47.5 percent.
According to a Board report, the markets seem to be doing well partly because this is an election year, and the current presidential administration wants to keep the economy on an even keel. It also said the growth in international equity holdings could be credited to "the decision to place those assets with emerging markets managers."
The University also has benefited from private donations. Major gifts recently have included an anonymous gift of $6 million, a $5.4 million gift to the Curry School for building projects, an anonymous $2.6 million donation to the Darden School and an anonymous $2 million gift to the Carr's Hill project.
Sheehy said the University will probably have to rely more on private sources of funding in the future, citing recent problems with the state budget.
Past its 100th day of debate, the General Assembly still has not agreed on a budget.
"I think that most of us agree that we are going to depend more on tuition and private gifts because there are so many demands at the state level," she said.
Sheehy said she was confident in the University's financial status.
"We remain one of the largest public endowments in the country," she said.
But Reynolds cautioned against viewing the $2 billion milestone as too significant.
"I think that it is certainly important to us that the endowment is over $2 billion, but I don't want to overstate its importance," Reynolds said. "It could be a little under $2 billion next quarter, but we do expect it to grow steadily."
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