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Endowment Funds

Endowment funds are monetary and asset donations that charities receive to be held and invested to maintain their principal value and earn investment income. The charities can use the investment returns for specific purposes set during the time of donation (restricted endowments) or for charitable purposes at their discretion (unrestricted endowments).

 

Among the 642 Institutions of Public Characters (IPCs) in Singapore, only 62 of them  (9.7%) have endowment funds. The average endowment fund size of the 62 charities are $219.9 million and the total endowment fund size is $13.6 billion. 

 

Endowment funds are more commonly found among charities in the education sector, specifically the universities. Endowment funds from the education sector make up 93.9 % of the total endowment fund value and specifically the 6 autonomous universities in Singapore hold 89.3% of the total endowment funds.

Singapore Universities and Endowment Funds

The autonomous universities (AUs) in Singapore set up their endowment funds with the support of the Singapore Government who generously provided the seed monies as well as varying amounts of matching grants to public donations into the endowment funds of the AUs. Currently the established universities such as NUS, NTU and SMU received $1.5 matching government grant for every dollar of donations to their endowment funds while the newer universities such as SUTD, SIT and SUSS received matching government grant of $3 for every $1 donation. The motivation is to enable the AUs to build their financial sustainability so that they can rely less on government support by having a separate stream of income that they can use for the programmes and activities.

The biggest use of endowment income goes towards the operating expenditure for the delivery of subsidised education. Other major uses include bursaries, scholarships, as well as learning enrichment programmes/ activities, research and professorships. Based on the amount of endowment funds that they have as well as their annual expenditure, the investment return generated can support up to 120% of the annual expenditure. However it is important to note that investment returns fluctuate based on market conditions and  universities may draw down their endowment funds in years where the investment returns are not enough to support the specific usage of the endowment funds. 

 

Endowment Funds

(SGD$ Million)

Endowment Investment Returns (SGD$ Million)

Endowment Investment Returns- Expenditure 

National University of Singapore

$5,930.7

$350.2

13.3%

Nanyang Technological University

$2,574.2

$473.8

29.0%

Singapore Management University

$1,254.8

$264.9

61.6%

Singapore University of Technology and Design

$998.9

$266.6

120.9%

Singapore Institute of Technology

$585.5

$129.0

47.2%

Singapore University of Social Science

$485.2

(-$0.7)

(-0.3%)

Note –  The above universities financial data are taken from the latest available financial year, April 2020 – March 2021 with the exception of data from Singapore University of Social Science that adheres to the calendar year of 2020 (Jan 2020 – Dec 2020)

Case Study - Harvard University's Endowment Fund and Return

Harvard University (Management Company – HMC)

Endowment Funds

(USD$ Billion)

Endowment Investment Returns (USD$ Billion)

Endowment Investment Returns- Expenditure 

$53.2

$12.8

257.7%

Note – Harvard university’s financial data is taken from the latest available financial year, July 2020 – Jun 2021

Endowment funds are more common among universities. However only the top universities around the world are able to attract and amass substantial endowment funds. Globally, Harvard University in the USA has the largest endowment among universities. 

 

For the fiscal year ended 2021, Harvard university reported an endowment size of  USD$53.2B. The majority of the endowment funds are restricted with only less than 20% of total endowment funds being unrestricted, the endowment investment returns are mainly used to support expenses in specific programs, departments, purposes (e.g. scholarships) or by the conditions set by the donors while the remaining endowment returns can be used to support operating expenses such as structural or strategic initiatives.

 

Investment returns for the endowment for 2021 was reported at USD$12.8B which covers an estimated 257.7% of the university’s total operating expenditure for the fiscal year.

References

 

  1. Harvard (2021). Harvard’s Endowment. Retrieved March 10, 2021 from link_here

  2. Harvard (2021). FY21 Harvard Financial Report. Retrieved March 10, 2021 from link_here

  3. Virginia L. Ma & Kevin A. Simauchi (2021). Harvard Ended Fiscal Year 2021 with $283 Million Surplus, Despite Losing $124 Million in Revenue. The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved March 10, 2022, from link_here

  4. Michael T. Nietzel (2021). Elite University Endowments Soar as Higher Ed Divide Grows. Forbes. Retrieved March 10 2022, from link_here

  5. NUS (2021). NUS Financial Report 2021. Issuu. Retrieved February 21, 2022, from link_here

  6. NUS (2021). National University of Singapore. Charity Portal. Retrieved February 21, 2022, from link_here

  7. NTU (2021). NTU Annual Report 2021. Retrieved February 21, 2022, from link_here

  8. NTU (2021). Nanyang Technological University Financial Information 2021. Charity Portal. Retrieved February 21, 2022, from link_here

  9. SMU (2021). SMU Annual Report 2020-21. Retrieved February 21, 2022, from link_here

  10. SMU (2021). Singapore Management University. Charity Portal. Retrieved February 21, 2022, from link_here

  11. SUTD (2021). Singapore University of Technology and Design Annual Report 2020. Retrieved February 21, 2022, from link_here

  12. SUTD (2021). Singapore University of Technology and Design. Charity Portal. Retrieved February 21, 2022, from link_here

  13. SIT (2021). SIT Annual Report 2021. Retrieved February 21, 2022, from link_here

  14. SIT (2021). Singapore Institute of Technology. Charity Portal. Retrieved February 21, 2022, from link_here

  15. SUSS (2020). SUSS Annual Report 2020. Retrieved February 21, 2022, from link_here

  16. SUSS (2021). Singapore University of Social Sciences. Charity Portal. Retrieved February 21, 2022, from link_here

]]> Singapore’s Biggest Philanthropic Foundations 2021 https://charityguidepoint.sg/cn/singapore-biggest-philanthropic-foundation/ Sat, 26 Feb 2022 00:39:43 +0000 https://charityguidepoint.sg/?p=827 Singapore’s Biggest Philanthropic Foundations 2021 查看全文 »

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Philanthropists in Singapore have been supporting causes through private donations for decades. These donations have been made through multiple channels including personal accounts, family offices, trusts and/or foundations. In particular, the wealthiest individuals and corporates establish foundations – legal entities through which they can channel giving to their preferred causes. 

In this complimentary version of the report, we provide analysis on the philanthropic foundations in Singapore and featured a list of the 10 Biggest philanthropic foundations in Singapore.

The complimentary version of the report can be accessed by submitting the form below.

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The full list of the 91 foundations – including information such as their latest annual expenditure, grants disbursed, causes supported, website and email address – is available for purchase at $50. To purchase the full version, please click here.

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