Cambridge could lose £11m invested in Icelandic banksCambridge University Cambridge University, at Cambridge, England, one of the oldest English-language universities in the world. Originating in the early 12th cent. (legend places its origin even earlier than that of Oxford Univ. has revealed it stands to lose £11m that it had invested in savings accounts with the collapsed Icelandic banks. It is one of 12 universities which the government has confirmed had a total of £77m invested in Iceland. A spokesman for Cambridge said it had £8.5m in the Heritable her·i·ta·ble adj. 1. Capable of being passed from one generation to the next; hereditary. 2. Capable of inheriting or taking by inheritance. bank, a UK subsidiary of Landsbanki, and £2.5m in the bank Glitnir. "Weíre not in position to fully determine how much of that we'll recover," he said. "We've notified the funding council Funding Council may refer to:
The £11m amounted to 3% of the university's money-market deposits, he added. The announcement is potentially embarrassing for the university - it appointed its first chief investment officer, Nick Cavalla cavalla (kəvăl`ə): see pompano. , an investment professional with particular expertise in the management of alternative investments, in April 2007. The university said at the time that it was creating the first professional in-house investment office of any UK university, and that it would help diversify the university's exposure to financial risk. The university had already set up an investment board of experienced industry figures to oversee management of the university's endowment fund Noun 1. endowment fund - the capital that provides income for an institution endowment patrimony - a church endowment chantry - an endowment for the singing of Masses in 2006, with members including David Swensen David Swensen has been the Chief Investment Officer at Yale University since 1985. He is responsible for managing and investing the University's endowment assets and investment funds, which total about $22 billion. Realizing an annual return of more than 17. , chief investment officer at Yale. The Cambridge spokesman insisted the investment board had helped the university minimise its financial risk. "It was all about diversification, and having a broad spread of investments to diversify risks. There's no doubt the board has helped with that," he said. "It's a substantial amount of money [in Icelandic banks] but it's only 3% of the university's total money-market deposits." The secretary of state for universities, John Denham John Denham may refer to:
Denham wrote in a statement: "Hefce has informed the government that there are 12 universities which held deposits with Icelandic banks that have recently entered into administration. "The total amount deposited was around £77m. "Clearly, this is a serious matter for each of these universities, and officials from HM Treasury are engaging with them and Hefce about their concerns. "However, it should be noted that Hefce has concluded that no university is at risk as a result of its exposure to Icelandic banks. Certainly, no university faces a level of exposure that would raise questions about its continuing solvency. "Students, businesses, charities and others may deal with universities with exactly the same level of confidence as before." Three universities in Wales There are thirteen universities in Wales:
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