January 2010
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — Harvard University said
Friday it lost $1.8 billion in operating cash in the last fiscal year as a
result of investing it alongside the university’s endowment.
The loss was revealed in Harvard’s fiscal 2009
operating report.
The university said in the report that it has
routinely pooled cash held in various schools and departments and invested a
significant portion of it with Harvard Management Co., which manages the
endowment. While this approach had generated "significant positive investment
results" for the university in the past, this past year it resulted in losses to
the cash account.
Harvard had previously reported that the value of
its endowment — the largest of any university in the nation — dropped by
nearly $11 billion in fiscal 2009 from $36.9 billion.
Harvard slashed 275 jobs and made other cost-cutting
moves earlier this year.
Associated Press, Oct. 16, 2009.
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