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Ford Foundation Annual Report 1985







Introduction to Financial Statements

Investments

The market value of the Foundation's investments was $3.8 billion at the end of the 1985 fiscal year, $413 million more than last year's $3.4 billion. The total return on the Foundation's investments in fiscal 1985 was 18.0 percent. Returns for the various portfolio components were as follows:

RATES OF RETURN
Year ended September 30, 1985
U.S. equities 14.2%
U.S. fixed income 22.6
International securities 22.6
Real estate 16.3
Venture capital −2.8
Short-term investments 9.5
Total fund: 18.0%


These returns compare with 14.5 percent for the Standard and Poor's 500 Stock Index, 21.2 percent for the Shearson Lehman Government/Corporate Bond Index, and 41.1 percent for the Capital International Index for Europe, Australia, and the Far East. Changes in the deployment of the Foundation's portfolio assets throughout the year contributed to the positive performance of the total fund (see below).

Income and Expenditures

Total realized income, consisting of dividends, interest, and net capital gains, amounted to $423.8 million, an increase of $113.6 million or 37 percent over fiscal 1984. Interest income increased by more than 20 percent to $181 million, resulting in part from an asset redeployment into fixed-income securities.

Program expenditures (primarily grants approved to organizations and individuals

PORTFOLIO COMPONENTS (as of September 30)
1985 1984
Market value Percent of total Market value Percent of total
(in millions) (in millions)
Marketable securities
U.S. equities $1,532.8 40.5% $1,584.4 47.0%
U.S. fixed income 1,822.1 48.2 1,382.3 41.0
International securities 286.1 7.6 269.1 8.0
Securities with limited marketability 140.0 3.7 132.2 4.0
$3,781.0 100.0% $3,368.0 100.0%