The USGA Got Crushed in the '08 Stock Market

The Dow Jones was off somewhere in the area of 35% for 2008.  By no means was it a good year, and every long-term investor felt the pain.  I know my IRA is not happy.  (Then again, I have 40 years before I retire.)  As it turns out, one of those long-term investors is the USGA.  They have a huge endowment that grew dramatically in the run to Dow 14,000.  It also got whacked on the way to Dow 8,000.

Michael Bamburger reports:

The USGA endowment, invested in a wide-range of stocks and bonds, has taken a significant hit in the past year, down roughly 30 percent and hovering at around the $200 million mark.

Considering the return I suggested for the DJIA - much less the awful NASDAQ and S&P 500 numbers - the USGA did well for itself in this year.

This hit, though, will impact the USGA's philantrophic arm:

For the past decade or so, because of the robust returns on Wall Street, the USGA has become a major participant in golf philanthropy, giving away as much as $10 million some years to programs including The First Tee and Play Golf America. (Fay noted that the USGA gives more to The First Tee than the PGA Tour.) With the downturn in the market, Fay said the USGA's ability to support various organizations would be curtailed, maybe significantly. He could not say to what degree.

We will find that degree out in tax filings or grant announcements this year.  Still, all things considered, the USGA could not have done much different except sell everything and horde into cash.  They're a long term player, though.