Does anyone know how the Williams endowment performed during the latest fiscal year, ending June 30, 2008? Harvard did well.

arvard University’s endowment fund posted strong annual gains, finishing the fiscal year ending in June up 7 percent to 9 percent, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The numbers are particularly impressive given the relatively weaker performances by rival endowments and pension funds, which are struggling in the current market, The Journal noted.

According to The Journal, the $35 billion endowment was boosted by investments in commodities, Treasurys and some strong hedge-fund performers.

Still, the results fell well-short of the endowment’s average annual return rate of 15 percent over the previous decade, the newspaper noted.

To make 8% in this time period is very impressive. I doubt that Williams did as well. As usual, it is endlessly annoying that the College is not more transparent. You can be certain that the members of the Investment Committee (pdf) have the preliminary numbers for Williams. Why not share them with the rest of us?