The Nobel Foundation, which just finished its weeklong string of awarding its prizes, is some financial issues, Bloomberg reports. The foundation, which had turned to hedge fund investments, may soon be now looking for charitable donations, Bloomberg adds, as it took a hit in those markets.
Bloomberg calculates that "[r]elying on hedge funds over standard equity indexes over the past year would have resulted in relative losses," though the foundation did not disclose which hedge funds it participates in.
In addition, the foundation last year slimmed down the size of the awards given to laureates by 20 percent to 8 million kronor, or about $1.23 million. It is also scaling the awards banquet back, again by about 20 percent.
"There is a long-term problem if we want to raise the ambition level, which I'd like to see us do," Lars Heikensten, executive director of the Nobel Foundation, tells Bloomberg. "It'll be difficult to save more and it will also be difficult to maintain costs at the current level. This indicates there will be a need for more money over time."
Heikensten adds that the foundation isn't yet looking for donations, but is exploring that possibility for the future to " "help beef up our capital."
And as Gawker notes, surely they know a few good economists?