About the Berkeley Endowment Management Company
In 2009, the University of California, Berkeley Foundation created the Berkeley Endowment Management Company (BEMCO), a subsidiary corporation to manage the investment of endowment gifts that have been entrusted to the UC Berkeley Foundation in support of Berkeley’s mission of teaching, research, and public service. With the creation of the new entity, the endowment is being managed by a professional staff overseen by a dedicated board of directors.
The move to a professional management structure received key funding in 2007, when the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation contributed $3 million. That gift provided for the formation and staffing of a subsidiary, non-profit corporation to manage the endowment.
“The creation of the Berkeley Endowment Management Company is a turning point for the UC Berkeley Foundation endowment,” said Scott Biddy, president of the UCBF. “With diminished state support that now accounts for just one-fourth of the campus budget, the University needs a variety of revenue streams to achieve a stable and secure financial future, and managing and building the endowment is key to this objective.”
Berkeley’s endowment is at $2.3 billion as of June 30, 2009. This reflects the combined value of two separate endowment pools, one managed for the UCBF by the Berkeley Endowment Management Company (valued at $736 million as of June 30, 2009) and the other managed by the UC Regents (valued at $1.6 billion as of June 30, 2009).
