Japan's $70bn university fund finishes first year $420m in the red

Endowment's lofty investment target could make stable returns difficult

20230707N kyoto university

Kyoto University is one of three finalists among the 10 schools that applied for subsidies from Japan's new university endowment fund. (Photo by Kosaku Mimura)

AKIRA INUJIMA, HIROYUKI OMOTO and RYO SAEKI, Nikkei staff writers

TOKYO -- Japan's 10 trillion yen ($70 billion) university endowment fund is off to a rough start, posting a deficit of 60.4 billion yen -- about $420 million -- for its first full fiscal year, which ended in March.

The fund debuted in 2022, with the goal of providing subsidies for Japanese universities to help them rank among the best in the world. It is run by the education ministry's Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), which announced the results on Friday.

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