GASB No. 52, Land and Other Real Estate Held as Investments by Endowments

Accounting standards previously required permanent and term endowments, including permanent funds, to report land and other real estate held as investments at their historical cost. Endowments exist to invest resources for the purpose of generating income. Other entities that exist for similar purposes—pension and other postemployment benefit plans, external investment pools, and Internal Revenue Code Section 457 deferred compensation plans—however, report land and other real estate held as investments at their fair value.

This Statement establishes consistent standards for the reporting of land and other real estate held as investments by essentially similar entities. It requires endowments to report their land and other real estate investments at fair value. Governments also are required to report the changes in fair value as investment income and to disclose the methods and significant assumptions employed to determine fair value, and other information that they currently present for other investments reported at fair value.

How This Statement Will Improve Financial Reporting

This Statement more appropriately reports the resources available in endowments and more closely aligns financial reporting with the objectives of endowments. It results in property held for similar purposes by comparable entities being reported in the same manner. Reporting land and other real estate held as investments at fair value enhances users’ ability to meaningfully evaluate an entity’s investment decisions and performance.