Emory’s endowment portfolio climbed 5.5 percent between September and the year end, a welcomed turnaround after decreasing 20.9 percent in the one-year period ending June 30.

According to a national survey of 842 colleges and universities by the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO), the University’s endowment value as of June 30 — $4.3 billion — ranked 15th in the country, one above last year’s spot.

The -20.9 percent figure takes into account the rate of return plus additional gifts and less annual spending. The portfolio’s average rate of return, -19.4 percent, was not quite as dismal as the 20.5 percent decline suffered on average by endowments more than $1 billion, according to NACUBO. Emory reported a -14.5 rate of return for the University’s own fiscal period, which ends Aug. 31.

“We reached the bottom of the market in March 2009, and everything started to turn after that point,” said Mary Cahill, Emory’s vice president of investments and chief investment officer. “The U.S. market is not on the brink of disaster anymore, so we saw quite a bit of improvement as well.”

Cahill said the future performance of the endowment portfolio is unpredictable, as the overall market has not yet stabilized. Indicators such as unemployment levels still have not recovered, she said.

Though the endowment portfolio generally invests for the long term, Cahill said, her team still makes some short term maneuvers. For example, she said, the University remains more risk-averse and has increased its amount of cash-type holdings.

Executive Vice President of Finance and Administration Michael Mandl wrote in an e-mail to the Wheel that though the positive rate of return on the endowment is encouraging, it is too early to read too much into it, especially given the recent dip in the general market.

“The good news is that the financial planning assumptions we made last spring are so far proving to be on track,” Mandl wrote.

But without significant new gifts to the endowment, he wrote, it could take more than a decade for the endowment value to climb back to what it was in June 2008.

Though the recovery of the endowment value is a long-term process, positive performance will directly help the operating budget. A fixed spending formula determines how much of the endowment can be withdrawn annually to contribute to the University’s budget. Endowment spending represents more than 15 percent of the overall budget.

— Contact Tiffany Han.