News: Harvard plans to sell 1.3 billion yuan worth of private equity assets

Insiders disclosed that Harvard University is in in-depth negotiations on the sale of approximately $1 billion worth of private equity fund shares, and the transaction has entered the later stage.

Reuters reported that insiders said the sale plan was initiated as early as last year and has nothing to do with US President Trump's recent threat to cut higher education funding. It is mainly a financial operation made to optimize liquidity management.

Harvard Management is entrusting Jefferies Financial Group to assist in advancing the deal, with the potential buyer being the private equity firm Lexington Partners. This transaction may be conducted in the form of a "secondary market transfer", but the specific terms have not yet been finalized and may still change.

As of now, neither Jeffery nor Lexington has responded to requests for comment.

As the Trump administration continuously intensifies tariff policies, causing sharp fluctuations in the financial market, an increasing number of investment institutions hope to revitalize funds and enhance liquidity by selling private credit or equity assets. Harvard's current operation is also in the midst of this market trend.

Insiders stressed that this deal does not represent a change in the asset allocation strategy of Harvard's $53 billion endowment fund. According to Harvard University's financial report last year, 39% of the fund's assets were invested in private equity, an increase from 34% in 2021. It is worth noting that in 2021, Harvard also sold nearly one billion US dollars worth of related assets through the secondary market.

Earlier in April, Harvard University announced its intention to borrow 750 million US dollars from Wall Street as part of its future financial response mechanism.

President Trump recently threatened to cut federal funding for higher education institutions, citing positions such as pro-Palestinian protests at colleges and universities, support for climate initiatives, promotion of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, and gender policies on campus. These remarks have sparked widespread controversy in the academic circle. Many students, faculty and staff, as well as advocacy groups, have called on the school to refuse to cooperate with the political pressure from the White House.

In addition, Yale University also pointed out this week that it is evaluating the possibility of selling private equity fund shares and has hired investment bank Evercore as an advisor, becoming another Ivy League school after Harvard to explore asset liquidity channels.