Many Foundations Have Lost Almost One-Third of Their Assets, Chronicle Study Finds
from Chronicle of Philanthropy | January 21, 2009
The steep decline in the stock market last year triggered an erosion of foundation wealth, with many grant makers losing nearly one-third of their assets, according to a new Chronicle survey of some of the nation’s largest philanthropies.
For the 57 grant makers that provided financial data for 2007 and 2008, endowments declined a median of 29 percent.
Foundations with investments in bankrupt or hard-hit companies, of course, fared much worse. For example, the Starr Foundation, in New York, which held a significant portion of its portfolio in American International Group stock, lost $1.7-billion – almost 57 percent of its assets. More
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