College Sports Executives: Call Your Endowment Peers

College endowment experts may wish to communicate with their fellow athletic department staff regarding private equity underwriters (PEU).  Endowments are bailing on their private equity holdings, even selling them at a discount.  

College sports programs are looking at PEU investments to improve facilities and fund operations.  Sports Business Journal announced:

Elevate, a sports consulting firm, will operate a joint initiative funded by the Texas Permanent School Fund and Velocity Capital Management called the Collegiate Investment Initiative, which will provide $500 million in funding for collegiate athletics programs pursuing "capital-intensive projects," such as facility upgrades and renovations.

Endowments like to encourage alumni to leave a portion of their estate to fund university programs.  Private equity is going after that same demographic, encouraging retirees to invest in their PEU offerings.

Is it possible to eliminate the fee-charging PEU middleman and have endowments fund athletic expansion?  Realistic or not, the endowment folks should visit with their sports counterparts.  It might prevent the repeated learning of hard lessons.