
Financial Management
February 29, 2024
Endowments: new horizons for Brazilian universities
The latest release from Editora Pecege, Endowments in Brazil: a practical installation manual, deals with a subject still little explored in our country and, therefore, practically unknown to Brazilians. Written by investment fund manager João Guilherme Araújo Schimidt and Pecege founder Pedro Valentim Marques, who are deeply knowledgeable in economics and finance, the work examines the mindset of managers and resource donors in Brazil.
In this interview granted to journalist Soraia Fessel for Revista Estratégias e Soluções (E&S), Schimidt unravels the tangle of economic concepts behind this mechanism, which drives North American universities such as Harvard, Yale, and Stanford, famous for high-level scientific productions. One of the secrets of these institutions is precisely the fact that no less than half of their budgets comes from endowments.
An endowment is an investment fund, generally originated by a private donation, with a specific purpose and in support of some cause, be it educational, cultural, or social. Unlike a common donation, the endowment represents a stable and continuous source of revenue for the beneficiary institution, enabling long-term projects.
The oldest record of an initiative like this in Brazil was that of the Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture, of the University of São Paulo (Esalq/USP), in Piracicaba (SP). Luiz de Queiroz wanted Brazil to have a higher education school for agriculture and, around 1900, donated his farm to the São Paulo State government for this purpose. In Schimidt’s opinion, this donation was a milestone, as it led to the emergence of undergraduate and postgraduate studies. Later, in 1934, Esalq would join other universities to found USP, one of the main scientific and intellectual powerhouses in Brazil.
This donation did not yet have the format of an endowment, but its motivator was already the same as characterizes the mechanism: a specific purpose, linked to education. A fire at the National Museum, in Rio de Janeiro, in 2018, ended up acting as a catalyst for the creation of the legal framework for endowments in Brazil – sanctioned in 2019 to receive donations for the museum’s reconstruction.
The main benefit of the modality, according to Schimidt, is the confidence it generates in investors. “The law brings modern governance; it requires accountability and a whole organization, which makes people trust endowments in Brazil,” he stated. This type of capital can enable a new phase for Brazilian universities, but, as our interviewee said, “Brazil is still in its early stages”.
About the interviewee
João Guilherme Araújo Schimidt is a fund manager and investor focused on innovation and exponential investments. He works at Capsur, which invests in series A+ “startups” that have technology as an essential item in their business plans.
Who published this videocast
Renata de Gaspari Valdejão Almeida







