The State of Maine? Hurting
If you’re still dialing for dollars, trying to raise your newest fund, don’t bother calling up Bowdoin College, Colby College, or Bates College. The schools, based in Brunswick, Waterville, and Lewiston, Maine, respectively, have watched the value of their endowments plummet since the global economy entered its tailspin. Indeed, according to the Associated Press, the trio have lost a collective $373 million in the fourth quarter of last year. It might not seem like much, considering the billions of dollars the likes of Yale, Harvard, and Dartmouth have watched disappear in recent months, but the total represents 22 percent of schools' funds. The silver lining for alumni, if not cash-strapped private equity and venture firms: Bowdoin, Colby, and Bates, which have backed the likes of Madison Dearborn Partners and Summit Partners in the past, are doing no worse than schools across the U.S. They’re down an average of 23 percent
