The University of Virginia’s investment portfolio benefited from an early investment in AI-focused hedge fund Situational Awareness, helping the university’s long-term investments deliver a record 27% return in the year to the end of June, according to a report by Bloomberg citing unnamed people familiar with the matter.
UVA was among the relatively small number of institutional investors to back the fund, which was founded by 24-year-old AI researcher Leopold Aschenbrenner. Most of the investors exposed to Situational Awareness were wealthy individuals and technology entrepreneurs.
The hedge fund returned about 200% in 2025 and gained more than 400% during the first six months of 2026, with leverage amplifying its performance. Those gains helped propel the firm into the ranks of the world’s largest hedge funds before a sharp reversal in July triggered margin calls and forced it to liquidate much of its public-equity portfolio.
Despite the subsequent turmoil, the gains recorded before the sell-off were enough to contribute to a strong year for the University of Virginia Investment Management Co (UVIMCO), which manages the university’s endowment and other assets.
The report cites unnamed people familiar with the results as revealing that UVA’s long-term investments returned 27% for the 12 months through 30 June, taking assets to a record $18.8bn. Roughly half of those assets are held in the university’s endowment. The performance compares with a 12.4% return in the previous fiscal year.
UVIMCO is understood to have made money on its Situational Awareness investment, although the university does not disclose the size or timing of individual investments or identify the approximately 90 external managers it employs.
Its latest tax filing showed $1.3bn invested in long-short equity funds as of 30 June, 2025.
