<p>Oct 16, 2014 Contact Rick Fitzgerald, (734) 936-5190, <a href="mailto:rickfitz@umich.edu">rickfitz@umich.edu</a></p>
<p>ANN ARBOR—A strong start to the Victors for Michigan fundraising campaign and overall investment returns of more than 18 percent helped to put the University of Michigan in a strong financial position at the end of the 2014 fiscal year.</p>
<p>That financial assessment comes from Douglas Strong, U-M's interim executive vice president and chief financial officer, in his comments included as part of the university's 2014 Annual Report, approved today by the Board of Regents during a meeting on the Flint campus.</p>
<p>Strong said the university increased its total net position by $1.6 billion to $13.1 billion.</p>
<p>"This increase is primarily the result of strong investment returns—which added $974 million to the endowment, net of distributions for operations—and a strong start to the public phase of the Victors for Michigan campaign...which included $298 million in gift revenue for capital and endowment purposes," he said.</p>
<p>Strong said the university continues to employ a disciplined budget approach "that carefully balances the university's requirement to be competitive against the challenging economic environment for several years."</p>
<p>President Mark Schlissel said in his opening letter for the annual report that the university's highest priority is student support.</p>
<p>"One of our most important goals will be to keep a Michigan education affordable and build the financial resources that will enable us to do that," he wrote. "I believe there has never been a more important time for Michigan's contributions to, and leadership in, public higher education."</p>
<p>Among the financial highlights in the annual report are these:</p>
<p>Donors made gifts of cash and pledge payments totaling $436 million, an increase of 22 percent over the previous year. </p>
<p>Corporate giving was up 27 percent to $21.6 million and donors made gifts totaling $88.9 million for student support.</p>
<p>The annualized investment rate of return over the past decade for U-M's long term portfolio, which includes the endowment, stands at 10 percent, well above the S&P 500 stock index return of 7.8 percent for the same period.</p>
<p>Research spending exceeded the $1 billion mark for the sixth straight year, totaling $1.3 billion.</p>
<p>The U-M Health System achieved an operating margin of 0.7 percent on operating revenues of $2.5 billion, while experiencing a 5.7 percent increase in patient care activity.</p>
<p>The university continues to maintain the highest credit ratings possible from both Standard & Poor's (AAA) and Moody's Investor Services (Aaa), one of only four public universities nationwide to maintain both ratings.</p>
<p>The consolidated financial statements for the university are audited by the independent accounting firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.</p>
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