Key Takeaways
- • The University of Illinois Foundation's $3.32 billion endowment returned 9.67% in FY 2026 against a 17.6% benchmark, an 8-percentage-point shortfall, according to PitchBook reporting.
- • A working paper by Jeffrey Brown and Mathias Kronlund finds the endowment underperformed its benchmark in 9 of the past 11 years, and that about 98% of the shortfall materialized between FY 2023 and FY 2026.
- • Had the endowment matched its benchmark over 11 years, it would have been about $771 million, or 25%, larger at the end of June 2026, per the paper.
- • CEO Jim Moore attributes the underperformance to a post-2022 repositioning under new CIO Travis Shore, including the sale of legacy private investments and a shift toward venture capital and growth equity, and says more than 60% of the 11-year gap stems from pre-2022 legacy investments.
- • Shore says the team "own[s] the FY2026 underperformance," blaming weak results from certain external public-equity managers, and states FY2027 performance is significantly ahead of benchmark so far.
Summary
The University of Illinois Foundation, which manages the university's $3.32 billion endowment, reported a 9.67% return for FY 2026 against a 17.6% benchmark, according to PitchBook. The shortfall came as many peer endowments posted their strongest year since 2021. In a letter posted on its website, President and CEO James (Jim) Moore attributed the underperformance to personnel and strategy changes following a comprehensive review that began in 2020.
In 2022, the Foundation appointed Travis Shore as chief investment officer, replacing Ellen Ellison, who had led the endowment since 2013. Shore, formerly deputy CIO at Vanderbilt University's endowment, rebuilt the team with hires including Frank Robinson and Matt McGanity from Vanderbilt and Jeremy Heer, who joined in 2023 from the University of Chicago's endowment. Over the following years the office sold underperforming legacy private investments and redeployed capital into new funds, increasing exposure to venture capital and growth equity. Shore also said the Foundation has dramatically repositioned its stock portfolio, turning over 90% of legacy public-market investments since FY 2023.
Jeffrey Brown, a finance professor and former dean of the Gies College of Business, and Mathias Kronlund, an associate professor of finance at the University of Illinois, published a working paper finding the endowment trailed its benchmark in 9 of the past 11 years. The paper estimates the shortfall would have left the endowment about $771 million, or 25%, larger at the end of June 2026, and argues that roughly 98% of the gap emerged between FY 2023 and FY 2026, suggesting the problem is not solely a legacy issue. Moore disputed the timing conclusion, saying it "overlooks the distinction between when losses were recognized and when the underlying investment challenges developed," and told PitchBook that more than 60% of the 11-year gap was due to legacy investments made before the new team arrived.
The FY 2025 results also drew scrutiny. The endowment returned 3.3%, missing its benchmark by nearly 10 percentage points, which the Foundation attributed to a "one-time impairment" on legacy private assets and a $245 million secondary sale that generated $121.5 million in proceeds. Without those markdowns and the sale, the Foundation said the return would have been about 7.4%, still below the 13.2% benchmark.
Shore attributed FY 2026 underperformance to "certain external public-equity managers" during a period when market gains were concentrated in a narrow group of companies, particularly those tied to the AI infrastructure boom. Brown has called for asset-class-specific performance disclosure to improve transparency, arguing that stakeholders need that data to assess whether the proposed fixes will work.
In 2022, the Foundation appointed Travis Shore as chief investment officer, replacing Ellen Ellison, who had led the endowment since 2013. Shore, formerly deputy CIO at Vanderbilt University's endowment, rebuilt the team with hires including Frank Robinson and Matt McGanity from Vanderbilt and Jeremy Heer, who joined in 2023 from the University of Chicago's endowment. Over the following years the office sold underperforming legacy private investments and redeployed capital into new funds, increasing exposure to venture capital and growth equity. Shore also said the Foundation has dramatically repositioned its stock portfolio, turning over 90% of legacy public-market investments since FY 2023.
Jeffrey Brown, a finance professor and former dean of the Gies College of Business, and Mathias Kronlund, an associate professor of finance at the University of Illinois, published a working paper finding the endowment trailed its benchmark in 9 of the past 11 years. The paper estimates the shortfall would have left the endowment about $771 million, or 25%, larger at the end of June 2026, and argues that roughly 98% of the gap emerged between FY 2023 and FY 2026, suggesting the problem is not solely a legacy issue. Moore disputed the timing conclusion, saying it "overlooks the distinction between when losses were recognized and when the underlying investment challenges developed," and told PitchBook that more than 60% of the 11-year gap was due to legacy investments made before the new team arrived.
The FY 2025 results also drew scrutiny. The endowment returned 3.3%, missing its benchmark by nearly 10 percentage points, which the Foundation attributed to a "one-time impairment" on legacy private assets and a $245 million secondary sale that generated $121.5 million in proceeds. Without those markdowns and the sale, the Foundation said the return would have been about 7.4%, still below the 13.2% benchmark.
Shore attributed FY 2026 underperformance to "certain external public-equity managers" during a period when market gains were concentrated in a narrow group of companies, particularly those tied to the AI infrastructure boom. Brown has called for asset-class-specific performance disclosure to improve transparency, arguing that stakeholders need that data to assess whether the proposed fixes will work.
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