Bowdoin College, an elite liberal arts school in Brunswick, Maine, lost 1.4 percent on its endowment investments in the year ended June 30 as most universities failed to eke out gains. The size of Bowdoin’s endowment, which is used to subsidize college operations, fell slightly to $1.34 billion from $1.4 billion after also accounting for fundraising and spending, the college said Wednesday in a statement. Clayton Rose, Bowdoin’s president, said in the statement that Paula Volent, senior vice president for investments, and the committee overseeing the endowment deserve credit for navigating “highly volatile financial markets.”