Talk about fuzzy math.
Yeshiva University President Richard Joel denied reports that soured investments have put the school on shaky ground— but used numbers that don’t add up to make his case.
In a letter to alumni posted on Yeshiva’s Web site, Joel compares the university’s “Long Term Pool” with the median return of all other university endowments since 2002. On that basis, he claims a 6.3 percent gain over the past 11 years.
The pool includes the university’s endowment, according to the letter, but it’s unclear what assets are in it or how long term they are.
The values don’t reflect the ups and downs of total assets, net assets, the pooled asset fund or the investment numbers in the university’s 2011, 2012 or 2013 annual reports, a Post analysis found.
The time frame also starts two years before Joel took his current position.
“This presentation seems a bit word-smithed,” one alumni said.
The Post reported Wednesday that the oldest Jewish university in the US has dug a $1 billion hole after plowing money into riskier hedge funds for the better part of a decade. Those funds aren’t “liquid” and can be hard to value, according to the school’s 2013 annual report.
Moody’s warned in March that Yeshiva was likely to run out of cash by the end of its 2015 fiscal year.
Matt Yaniv, a university spokesman, didn’t return requests for comment. Takepart.com and The Jewish Channel first reported on Yeshiva’s financial woes.