美国国家公共电台 NPR--College endowments are experiencing some whiplash

College endowments are experiencing some whiplash

Transcript¹

After setting records in 2021, endowment returns have fallen dramatically amid economic uncertainty². Some colleges and universities have endowments that rival the economies of entire countries.

A MARTINEZ, HOST:

Some U.S. colleges and universities have endowments that rival the economies of entire countries, boosted in recent years by astronomical³ returns on their investments. But as NPR's David Gura reports, those returns are now falling back to Earth.

DAVID GURA, BYLINE⁴: Schools have made mountains of money off their investments. And endowments really ballooned during the pandemic when stocks were on a record-setting run. Chris Brightman used to manage billions of dollars for the University of Virginia. Today, he's the CEO of the investment firm Research Affiliates⁵.

CHRIS BRIGHTMAN: Endowments reported, you know, let's call it anywhere between 25 to 30% positive returns, up to greater than 50%.

GURA: Which is massive. Harvard's endowment grew to two times the size of Iceland's GDP. And while schools have funneled⁶ some of that money into scholarships, it's also paid for luxe dorms and gleaming gyms, some with climbing walls. But endowments are sharing how they did in the last fiscal⁷ year, which ended in June. And in a matter of months, there's been this dramatic swing from those double-digit percentage gains to losses, which will lead to some introspection on college campuses.

BRIGHTMAN: There's going to be the inevitable⁸ pressure to say, what are we doing wrong? And why aren't we keeping up?

GURA: To be fair, a lot of this has to do with the stock market. During that fiscal year, the S&P 500 fell by more than 10%. And the Nasdaq fell by about 23%. But endowments don't just invest in stocks and bonds. They're in private equity⁹ and venture capital, commodities. That's because they've embraced risk as they've tried to make more money. And Chris Brightman says that makes it harder to know how they're doing.

BRIGHTMAN: There's just a whole array of private funds that are investing in assets that are not publicly traded and therefore don't have a readily apparent market value.

GURA: Which could spell trouble down the line if those riskier¹⁰ investments tumble. Endowments face uncertainty that could last a long time. Cornell is among several schools that swung from record-setting returns to losses. And the head of its investment office warned in a statement, the likelihood of an extended period of lower returns appears heightened.

David Gura, NPR News, New York.

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1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

3 astronomical   

adj.天文学的，（数字）极大的

参考例句：

• He was an expert on ancient Chinese astronomical literature.他是研究中国古代天文学文献的专家。
• Houses in the village are selling for astronomical prices.乡村的房价正在飙升。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 affiliates   

附属企业( affiliate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She affiliates with an academic society. 她是某学术团体的成员。
• For example, these security affiliates participated in the floating of 19,000,000,000 of issues in 1927. 例如，这些证券发行机构在1927年的流通证券中，就提供了一百九十亿美元的证券。

6 funneled   

漏斗状的

参考例句：

• The crowd funneled through the hall. 群众从走廊中鱼贯而过。
• The large crowd funneled out of the gates after the football match. 足球赛后大群人从各个门中涌出。

7 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

8 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。

9 equity   

n.公正，公平，（无固定利息的）股票

参考例句：

• They shared the work of the house with equity.他们公平地分担家务。
• To capture his equity,Murphy must either sell or refinance.要获得资产净值，墨菲必须出售或者重新融资。

10 riskier   

冒险的，危险的( risky的比较级 )

参考例句：

• Now they are starting to demand higher returns on riskier assets. 而今他们开始在风险更高的资产上要求更高的回报。
• The problem with that: RIM's business is getting riskier every quarter. 不过问题也随之而来：RIM面临的业务风险正逐季增大。