MAJURO — Five of the six endowment funds in the Micronesian area, including three in the Marshall Islands, that are invested by Salomon Smith Barney have outperformed funds of similar size in the U.S. over the past three years.
According to data compiled from a 2001 U.S. national endowment survey of 611 funds, the average rate of return for funds under $100 million was 5.10 percent over the past three years.
According to Guam-based Salomon Smith Barney senior vice president Dan Roland, five of the funds under his administration did better than this U.S. average for small funds.
During the past three years, Marshall Islands Social Security Administration generated 10.31 percent, the Enjebi Endowment for nuclear test-affected islands from Enewetak Atoll produced 9.7 and the Enewetak Endowment returned 9.72.
The College of Micronesia’s Federated States of Micronesia Endowment fund returned 7.01 percent, while the University of Guam Endowment produced at a 5.82 percent rate. The only one that didn’t exceed the rate produced by U.S. funds under $100 million was the College of Micronesia Land Grant Endowment that earned 2.83 percent over three years.
The four endowment funds that Roland has managed for at least 10 years—the University of Guam and the three Marshall Islands funds—all also out-produced the 10-year average for U.S. funds of similar size.
