“In her most recent year at Wellesley, the $1.7 billion endowment posted a 22. 7 percent return through June 30, 2007. That figure was higher than the 21.3 percent average return for endowments with assets over $1 billion as measured by the National Association of College and University Business Officers. For that same period, Harvard posted a 22.4 percent gain.
For the five-year period under her leadership, Wellesley posted an average annual return of 13.5 percent, which is slightly under the average for schools over $1 billion according to NACUBO. However experts generally say that it takes five years or more before a performance record reflects the current manager’s strategy.
Ms. Mendillo joins a growing list of women running the nation’s largest university endowments. In the last 10 years, the number of women running the top 25 endowments has jumped to five women from two women. “
