Our greatest impact happens together
Endowment Report
2021 / 2022
The impact of endowed gifts like yours reaches far beyond Waterloo’s campus community. With your help, we can attract, foster and equip a new generation of problem-solvers — like the students featured in this report — ready to tackle society’s biggest issues. Thank you for your investment and trust. Together, we are creating a better future for us all.
In 2021-2022, over 811 individually named endowment funds distributed $12,197,000 million to support vital resources, including scholarships, funding for research, chairs and professorships, and more.
$15,653,000 million in new external contributions in 2021/22, including the creation of 35 new endowments
$464,677,000
Market value
Market Value as at April 30, 2022. The value at which investments in the endowment pool could be sold in the open market.
$434,819,000
Book value
Book Value, as at April 30, 2022. The value of all contributions and capitalized earnings that have been deposited into the endowment principal.
Endowment Fund Management
Waterloo’s Endowment is invested with a long-term view and a priority to protect and grow the endowment to ensure a stable source of funding in perpetuity. The University pursues a thoughtful implementation of investment strategies and vigilant risk management in achieving these objectives. The Finance and Investment Committee exercises general oversight of the financial affairs of the University and reviews the portfolio and performance of the fund managers. The committee reports to the Board of Governors, recommending changes as required.
Portfolio Asset Mix
The Finance and Investment Committee reviews and approves the asset mix.
Benchmark Allocation with asset class
The permitted ranges are:
Cash or Equivalent - 0-2%, Fixed Income - 20-40%, Canadian Equity - 0-20%, Global Equity - 50-70%, Total Equity - 60-75%
Growth in Waterloo's Endowment
Book and Market values of the endowment for 2021/22
Book Value $434.8M
Market Value $464.7M
Endowment Fund Returns
The endowment fund total return for the year ending April 30, 2022, was 0.24% and the annualized total return for the ten years ending April 30, 2022 was 6.97%.
The total return includes both realized returns (interest, dividends, market value gains/losses earned through investment transactions) and unrealized returns (market value increases/decreases in existing investment holdings.)
Asset Managers
- University of Waterloo
- Fiera Capital Corporation
- Phillips Hager North Investment Services (a division of RBC Global Asset Management)
- TD Asset Management
- Walter Scott Partners Ltd. (a division of BNY Mellon Investment Management)
How funds are allocated and preserved
The amount of investment income allocated for spending is based on an expendable rate, set annually at the start of each fiscal year. The expendable rate considers consistency in practice, spending needs and anticipated endowment realized investment returns. The expendable rate for 2021/22 was 3%. The expendable rate for the current year, ending April 30, 2023, is currently set at 3%.
Waterloo endeavours to annually increase the principal balance of each endowment for inflation, based on Bank of Canada inflation measures (CPI increase). Due to higher inflation, the CPI increase for 2021/22 was higher than historical norms.
Realized investment income amounts earned in excess of the expendable rate and CPI increase are allocated to an endowment’s reserve account. If sufficient realized income is not earned throughout the year to fund spending at the set expendable rate and the CPI increase, the endowment’s reserve account can be used to fund spending and/or the CPI increase.
For more information about endowment management and spending policy at the University of Waterloo please visit uwaterloo.ca/support/endowment-faq
Our stories:
An advocate for equity
Rico Mariani (BMath ’88) knows how challenging the tech industry can be — and even more so for women and members of other underrepresented groups. As part of his personal commitment to inclusion and equity, he created scholarships to encourage Waterloo students in these groups.
Finding her place in STEM
As the only female in her secondary school computer science class, Elin Liu felt the pressure of representing women in STEM. A scholarship provided by donors Yves and Cynthia Bled gave her a boost of confidence. Now, she wants to help other female engineering students find their place in STEM.