Harvard University's endowment is in advanced talks to sell private equity fund interests totaling about $1 billion, a person familiar with the matter said, Report informs via Reuters.
The sale process started last year and is unrelated to threats of funding cuts from US President Donald Trump, the person said, requesting anonymity as the matter was private.
Harvard Management Company, which oversees the largest endowment in US higher education, is being advised by Jefferies Financial Group to sell the portfolio to private equity firm Lexington Partners, according to Bloomberg News, which first told about the development.
The terms of the deal, which might be in a secondaries transaction, are not final and are subject to change.
The move comes as investors are looking to increase sales of their private credit holdings for new ways to generate liquidity amid the unprecedented market volatility brought on by Trump's tit-for-tat trade policy.
The sale does not indicate a change in asset allocation for the $53 billion endowment, according to the source.
Harvard had 39% of its funds into private equity assets in 2024, according to the annual Harvard financial update. This is up from 34% in 2021, when the university also sold close to $1 billion of such funds in the secondary market.