The Twenty Minute VC (20VC) · Monday, September 14, 2026
David Morehead, CIO at Baylor University, discusses how endowment distributions are becoming increasingly crucial for higher education institutions facing financial pressures, such as declining student enrollment. He notes that their office has historically performed well in down markets and is now focusing on improving upside performance.
“And so in this time and space, and I think realistically for the next 10 or 15 years, the distributions that are coming off of endowment funds are going to be increasingly important.”
“Now, we've always been good at the downside. Historically, our office like, first quarter of 2026, I think it was down 4%, we were flat.”
“And what we've kind of gone back and looked at is how could we get better at the upside?”