Harvard University’s endowment is in advanced talks to sell private equity fund interests totaling about $1 billion, a person familiar with the matter said on Thursday.
The sale process started last year and is unrelated to threats of funding cuts from U.S. President Donald Trump, the person said, requesting anonymity as the matter was private.
Harvard Management Company, which oversees the largest endowment in U.S. higher education, is being advised by Jefferies Financial Group to sell the portfolio to private equity firm Lexington Partners, according to Bloomberg News, which first reported about the development.
The terms of the deal, which might be in a secondaries transaction, are not final and are subject to change, according to the report.
Jefferies and Lexington Partners did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
The move comes as investors are looking to increase sales of their private credit holdings for new ways to generate liquidity amid the unprecedented market volatility brought on by Trump’s tit-for-tat trade policy.
The sale does not indicate a change in asset allocation for the $53 billion endowment, according to the source.
Harvard had 39% of its funds into private equity assets in 2024, according to the annual Harvard financial report. This is up from 34% in 2021, when the university also sold close to $1 billion of such funds in the secondary market.
Thursday’s report comes after Harvard University said earlier in the month that it plans to borrow $750 million from Wall Street as part of contingency measures.
Trump has threatened to withhold federal funding from colleges and universities over pro-Palestinian campus protests against U.S. ally Israel’s military assault on Gaza, as well as a host of other issues such as climate initiatives, transgender policies, and diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
Advocates, students and several faculty members had called on university leadership to resist the demands of the Trump administration.
Yale University said on Tuesday that it was exploring a sale of private equity fund interests as well, and is being advised by investment banking firm Evercore.
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