The Endowment Model Report 2026
Why endowments and foundations run the most aggressive alternatives books of any institution: a look at 566 of them managing $2.30T.
Last updated June 2026. Computed from PipelineRoad's vetted institutional investor and fund-manager data; recomputed on every publish.
Key findings
- Endowments allocate an average of 40% to alternatives and foundations 29%, the highest of any institutional investor type, the defining trait of the "endowment model."
- The 566 endowments and foundations tracked manage $2.30T combined, far less in dollars than pensions or insurers but invested far more aggressively.
- Private equity and real estate are near-universal in this group; venture capital and hedge funds appear far more often here than among pensions or insurers.
- University of California Investment Office is the largest at $152B.
Against roughly 16% for pension funds and 9% for insurers, the endowment model leans hardest into private markets, trading liquidity for long-horizon return.
What endowments and foundations allocate to
Share of the group listing each asset class in its mandate.
The 20 largest endowments and foundations
| # | Institution | Type | Reported AUM |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of California Investment Office | Endowment | $152B |
| 2 | Ensign Peak Advisors | Foundation | $100B |
| 3 | Carl Victor Page Memorial Foundation | Foundation | $100B |
| 4 | Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation | Foundation | $75B |
| 5 | Texas Permanent School Fund | Endowment | $68B |
| 6 | Harvard Management Company | Endowment | $57B |
| 7 | University of Texas at Austin Endowment | Endowment | $51B |
| 8 | Wellcome Trust | Foundation | $48B |
| 9 | Lilly Endowment | Foundation | $46B |
| 10 | University of Texas / UTIMCO | Endowment | $44B |
| 11 | Yale Endowment | Endowment | $41B |
| 12 | Stanford Management Company | Endowment | $41B |
| 13 | Yale University Endowment | Endowment | $41B |
| 14 | Mastercard Foundation | Foundation | $40B |
| 15 | Stichting INGKA Foundation | Foundation | $36B |
| 16 | Princeton University Investment Company (Princo) | Endowment | $35B |
| 17 | Princeton University Endowment | Endowment | $34B |
| 18 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology Endowment | Endowment | $27B |
| 19 | MIT Investment Management Company (MITIMCo) | Endowment | $27B |
| 20 | Howard Hughes Medical Institute | Foundation | $24B |
Methodology
Every figure is computed at build time from PipelineRoad's curated institutional investor directory and fund-manager dataset. Reported assets reflect each entity's most recent disclosure; figures are deduplicated and scoped to asset owners (for LP reports) or active managers (for fund reports). Family-office and net-worth figures are widely reported estimates, not audited AUM. The page recomputes on every publish, so the numbers track the data as it is corrected and expanded.
PipelineRoad, "The Endowment Model Report 2026," June 2026. https://pipelineroad.com/research/endowment-model-report
Frequently asked questions
What is the endowment model of investing?
The endowment model is a strategy that allocates heavily to alternatives (private equity, venture capital, real estate, hedge funds) for long-horizon return. In PipelineRoad's data, endowments average 40% in alternatives and foundations 29%, the highest of any investor type.
Which endowments and foundations are the largest?
University of California Investment Office leads at $152B. PipelineRoad tracks 331 endowments and 235 foundations managing $2.30T combined.
Reach these investors
This report runs on PipelineRoad's data. Members get verified decision-maker contacts, current mandates, and live allocation signals, matched to a fund's thesis across 30+ institutional sources.
