Harvard's endowment, the largest in the world at $56.9 billion, returned 11.9% for the year to June 2025. Its mix is unusual even among private-heavy endowments: 41% private equity and 31% hedge funds, with just 14% in public stocks. The hedge funds are its liquidity-and-ballast sleeve, and Harvard leaned on it in 2025, selling about $1 billion of private-equity stakes on the secondary market to raise cash.
Key numbers, and what they mean
11.9%
Harvard's FY2025 return, for the year to June 2025. Public stocks and hedge funds led; the endowment grew to $56.9B.
41%
In private equity and venture, its largest sleeve. Combined with hedge funds, nearly three-quarters of the fund is in alternatives.
31%
In hedge funds, an unusually large weight that Harvard uses to diversify and to hold liquidity across cycles.
$2.5B
Paid to Harvard's budget in FY2025, about 37% of operating revenue. The endowment ran alongside a rare $113M deficit.
Asset mix (June 2025)
Private equity41%
Hedge funds31%
Public equity14%
Real assets (RE + nat. res.)8%
Bonds, TIPS & cash7%
The read-through
From the report
Takeaway: how to apply it to a portfolio
Harvard holds 31% in hedge funds and just 14% in public stocks, an unusually large diversifier sleeve.
Alongside illiquid private equity, Harvard keeps a big liquid, lower-correlation sleeve. If you lock money into private funds, pair it with something you can actually sell in a bad year.
In 2025 Harvard sold about $1B of private-equity stakes on the secondary market as private distributions slowed.
Even the biggest endowment had to raise cash from its private book. Plan your liquidity before a slow market forces the sale, usually at a discount.
Nearly three-quarters of the fund is in private equity and hedge funds, and it still paid out $2.5B while running a deficit.
Illiquid-heavy portfolios still owe cash to their owners. Make sure the payout does not depend on assets you cannot sell on demand.
The Argus lensA hedge fund or a private-equity stake is only worth its stated mark, and a secondary buyer is betting that mark is honest. Reading the fund documents and testing those valuations against comparables is the work we do on anything you are offered.
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About the source
Harvard Management Company's fiscal 2025 report, published October 2025, covers the year ended June 30, 2025: the 11.9% return, $56.9B endowment value, allocation, and $2.5B distribution. The roughly $1B secondary sale was reported by Bloomberg and the Harvard Crimson in 2025.