People who establish life income gifts at Duke may benefit from a recent ruling by the IRS that allows Duke Management Company (DUMAC) to invest the assets of charitable remainder trusts with Duke University’s endowment assets.

Charitable remainder trusts are life income gifts that are invested and provide an annual income to donors or their loved ones based on the changing value of the assets. When the donor or donor’s designee dies, the balance goes to the institution.

Duke is now one of only a handful of universities given permission by the IRS to invest charitable remainder trusts with endowment assets. This giving opportunity may appeal to individuals who are comfortable with more aggressive investment strategies over the long term.

Actual year-to-year performance varies and future performance cannot be predicted by DUMAC’s strong earnings in the past; but for the ten-year period ending June 30, 2006, DUMAC achieved a 16.3 percent average annual compound rate of return on the university’s endowment assets. This was the second highest reported ten-year rate of return among a group of more than 450 colleges and universities.

To learn more about DUMAC, visit www.dumac.duke.edu. For more information
about life income gifts to Duke and other “tax-wise” gift plans, please contact Joseph W. Tynan, JD, Duke Medicine director of planned giving, at 919-667-2506 (tel), 919-667-1002 (fax), or tynan002@mc.duke.edu (e-mail).