Most Queen’s students know the endowment exists. Few people know what is actually in it.
The Queen’s Pooled Endowment Fund (PEF) is the investment fund that makes up philanthropic donations and gifts received from corporations and former alumni made to Queen’s. The fund’s purpose is to generate yearly returns off the principal amount to pay for scholarships, academic chairs, research, and other programs.
According to the Queen’s 2026 Endowment Report, the fund was valued at more than $2 billion as of April 30, 2026, up 21.2 per cent from last year. The money paid out to support the University reached $67 million in 2026, up from $45 million in 2021.
The 2024 Canadian Association of University Business Offices Investment Survey ranked Queen’s second among post-secondary institutions with over 5,000 students in terms of total endowments assets per full-time student.
Queen’s also publishes a list of the fund’s holdings each year. The following information is based on the most recent list from Dec. 31, 2025, when the fund was valued at $1.98 billion.
The endowment is spread across six types of asset classes. Public equities make up the largest share at about $1.24 billion, two thirds of the entire portfolio. Fixed income, which is government and corporate debt in the form of bonds and other instruments, make up $268 million. Investments in infrastructure sit at $169.7 million. Cash and equivalents make up $112.3 million, real estate for $102.3 million, and private equity for $81 million.
Queen’s doesn’t pick these investments itself. Each asset class is managed by specific external investment managers and says they “do not normally select individual securities internally.”
The University describes the fund’s purpose as balancing two specific goals. Firstly, generating enough of a return year-over-year to fund university programs today, while secondly, making sure the endowment can hold its value for future generations based off the principal accumulated over time.
In other words, this means the fund cannot afford to be too conservative. A portfolio sitting in low-risk investments, such as bonds and treasury notes, would be eaten up by inflation while providing a reduced return for funding on important programs and scholarships. As a result, the fund takes a calculated risk on equities, real estate, and infrastructure to generate the return needed to fund its promises.
Within the equity portfolio, the largest positions consist of global technology. Nvidia sits at $55.4 million, Apple at $49.2 million, and Microsoft at $43.6 million. The technology sector alone makes up the most significant majority of individual equity positions.
However, among these individual holdings, some have been the subject of debate over whether the endowment should divest.
Queen’s has faced several divestment campaigns over the years and acted on two. In the 1980s, it fully divested from companies tied to apartheid South Africa, and in 2007, it divested from Chinese oil companies operating in Sudan. In both cases, Canada had imposed sanctions.
Requests to divest from fossil fuels have been declined twice. In 2014, the student group Queen’s Backing Action on Climate Change asked the University to divest, and in November 2015, the Board of Trustees Investment Committee announced it would not. The group then submitted a new request in March 2025, and in December 2025, the board approved the same ruling. As of 2025, the fund held $5 million in ExxonMobil, $2.83 million in Chevron, and $2 million in Shell.
In March 2025, the principal review committee for responsible investing made a final recommendation against divesting from companies doing business in or with Israel. The decision followed a request from Queen’s University Apartheid Divest, which identified $222 million in investments they claim “facilitate the illegal occupation of Occupied Palestinian Territories.”
The committee cited the universities fiduciary responsibility, finding that divestment would increase costs and risk across the portfolio. They also cited principles of institutional neutrality.
Following the March 2025 decision, Queen’s suspended procedure two, which is the process for officially requesting divestment, while it takes time to review its responsible investing policy. No new requests can be filed until this is complete, which is expected in December.
The divestment decisions follow a consistent pattern: Queen’s typically divests when the Canadian government has already imposed sanctions. Without them, it points to its fiduciary duty and institutional neutrality.
How students can challenge this approach will depend on the revised responsible investing policy, which will ultimately determine how investment decisions are made and maintained.
Tags
endowment, Investment, Pooled Endowment Fund, Queen's Investments
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