David Swensen is chief investment officer of Yale Univerity, responsible for managing the Yale Endowment. His investment performance, 17.2% over the ten years to 2006, has far outperformed that of other endowment funds. Swensen focuses on asset allocation and manager selection, arguing that illiquid assets and inefficient markets provide the opportunity for higher returns than liquid assets and effiecient markets. That has led him to unconventionally high allocation to alternative asset classes such as timber and real estate, and low allocations to bonds and large cap US stocks. (The Yale Endowment updates are available on the Yale Investments Office website ().) Mr Swensen's investment methodology is outlined in Pioneeri ng Portfolio Management (http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html? ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FPioneering-Portfolio- Management-Unconventional-Institutional%2Fdp%2F0684864436%3Fie%3DUTF8% 26s%3Dbooks%26qid%3D1177574955%26sr% 3D8-2&tag=seekingalpha-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325), one of Seeking Alpha's must-read investment books (http:// seekingalpha.com/article/4068). In 2005 he applied his thinking to investing for individuals with Unconven tional Success: A Fundamental Approach to Personal Investment ( http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A% 2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FUnconventional-Success-Fundamental-Approach- Investment%2Fdp%2F0743228383%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks%26qid% 3D1177574955%26sr% 3D8-1&tag=seekingalpha-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325).