Yale endowment earns 4.7 percent return

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — Yale University says its endowment earned a 4.7 percent investment return for the past year and now stands at $19.3 billion.

Yale says the investment gains of nearly $900 million for the year ending June 30 were offset by spending of about $1 billion. The value of the endowment fell from $19.4 billion on June 30, 2011, to $19.3 billion on June 30, 2012.

Yale says the profit came in a difficult investment environment, with foreign markets struggling.

Yale says its endowment returned 10.6 percent per year over the past decade, compared to the average return of about 6.8 percent of college and university endowments. During the 10-year period, the endowment grew from $10.5 billion to $19.3 billion.