The study, “2010 Commonfund Benchmarks Study of Healthcare Organizations,” surveyed 85 nonprofit organizations on the returns of their investable assets, including endowment/foundation funds, funded depreciation, working capital and other separately treated assets. The FY 2009 average return of 18.8 percent is the highest average return in the eight years the study has been conducted.
The study also found the average FY 2009 return for participants’ defined benefit pension plans was 21.5 percent, compared with last year’s return of -26.3 percent.
Operating budgets in FY 2009 averaged $946 million, about a 4.4 percent decline from $990 million in FY 2008. Operating margins expanded significantly—to 4.2 percent this year from 2.9 percent last year.
For the fifth consecutive year, participating healthcare organizations reported a higher average debt level. Overall, debt rose to an average of $903 million from $681 million in FY 2008. As has been the case in the past, the largest increase in dollars came from organizations with assets over $1 billion, where debt increased to an average of $2.6 billion from $2.2 billion a year ago.
Relative to some other areas of the nonprofit sector, participating healthcare organizations realized lower returns on their investable assets in FY 2009. A separate study by Commonfund found the average return for non-healthcare foundations to be 20.9 percent for FY 2009.
Read the Commonfund release on non-profit healthcare organization investment returns.
At Becker's 4th Annual CEO + CFO Roundtable, taking place November 2–5 in Chicago, more than 1,500 hospital and health system executives tackle decisions that determine whether organizations thrive or merely survive: protecting margins under cost pressure, choosing where to grow, renegotiating payer relationships, stabilizing the workforce and proving real ROI on technology. This is where leaders work through them together, face-to-face. Apply for complimentary registration now.
