Knight Diversity of Asset Managers Research Series: Higher Education, Interim Release

This study strives to measure the representation of women- and racial or ethnic minority-owned investment firms ("diverse-owned firms") among those used by the country's top 25 private and top 25 public college and university endowments. The endowments collectively hold $587 billion in assets, more than two-thirds of the nation's higher education endowment dollars. In addition to this vast financial capital, these endowments support the operations of some of the most socially influential institutions in the country and hold tremendous potential to exert influence via investment decisions.We are releasing this report on an interim basis to disclose what we have learned to date and to recognize the institutions that broke the mold among this relatively secretive group of endowments