Vanguard REIT Index VIPERs (VNQ)
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- Time to Pick Up the Pieces of the Global REIT Thud [view article]
- Key Asset Class Returns of the Week [view article]
- Performance for Harvard, Yale Endowments in 2008 [view article]
- Real Estate ETFs: Vanguard's REIT ETF Should Benefit When Volatility Subsides [view article]
- Bailout Cost, per Taxpayer, by Income [view article]
- Tracking 9 ETF Portfolios [view article]
- Yawning from the Market Sidelines, ETFs in Hand [view article]
- 8 Sector ETFs in a Surprising Uptrend [view article]
- Financial Crisis Hits REITs ETFs Hard [view article]
- Simple Asset Allocation Yardstick [view article]
- REITs: Uninspiring Valuations, Still Vulnerable to Housing Bust [view article]
- Harvard Endowment 2008 Performance [view article]
loading ...Recent VNQ Articles
- Asset Allocation and ETFs: Pimco's El-Arian in 2008
- Key Asset Class Returns of the Week
- Time to Pick Up the Pieces of the Global REIT Thud
- Real Estate ETFs: Vanguard's REIT ETF Should Benefit When Volatility Subsides
- Currency ETFs Shine Through Bleak Market
- Bailout Cost, per Taxpayer, by Income
- Tracking 9 ETF Portfolios
- 8 Sector ETFs in a Surprising Uptrend
- Performance for Harvard, Yale Endowments in 2008
- Yawning from the Market Sidelines, ETFs in Hand
- Full List of Articles »
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Performance for Harvard, Yale Endowments in 2008 [view article]
contrarian@coalmineIt sounds like you enjoy shooting from the hip. Look at the historical NACUBO data. Of the growth that the top endowments have seen in NAV since the late 1980's <10% is from donations. The endowments are impressive. Reply
Performance for Harvard, Yale Endowments in 2008 [view article]
So these endowments are the excuse for not lowering tuition? Also if they are doing so well, why isn't tuition going down? ReplyStudent
Performance for Harvard, Yale Endowments in 2008 [view article]
Contrarian...A 50% YTD return is very impressive. Could you please publish your portfolio for us to view? Reply
Performance for Harvard, Yale Endowments in 2008 [view article]
Investments in commodities explain why Harvard and Yale endowments have done well this year. ReplyPerformance for Harvard, Yale Endowments in 2008 [view article]
Let me make this very simple. With no accounting of how the stated returns were generated the numbers are meaningless. This isn't the first time that the Yale performance has been touted as some kind of superior investing genius, but as those above have stated, it's not verifiable and questionable accounting is suspected.I personally found a very glaring example of this a few years ago when examining a year-end report published by a very large public employee retirement fund. They were also claiming some very large returns. It turns out that they were adding new contributions to the fund in the gain calculation. Outrageous. Reply
Performance for Harvard, Yale Endowments in 2008 [view article]
Contrarian, while I don't have a skin in this game, donation numbers which "only account for <10% of the endowment growth" imply a 10% boost on GROWTH, not on a percentage of the overall portfolio. Otherwise, your points are well noted. Replyoalmine
Performance for Harvard, Yale Endowments in 2008 [view article]
Rememberctr...you state "The donation numbers are public and they only account for <10% of the endowment growth." If donations are counted as actual portfolio return on a year to year basis, then that's one-hell-of-a competitive edge for these endowments. Give me a 5-10% head start on the S&P 500 every year...and I'd be a legendary portfolio manager.This is the year of the mark to market confessional for all money managers...there's no escaping. I'm too lazy to ascertain what equity positions Yale and Harvard hold long term [don't tell me that they have 100% yearly turnover], but I would bet AIG,LEH,GE,WM,MS,PFE,C... etc. are among them...not to mention their diversification into brutalized emerging markets.
I still have no hesitation questioning the veracity of the above claim that Harvard is beating the market by almost 20% this year, and is actually showing a positive return...minus in flows of cash donations.
Boasting exceptional returns when your internal audits are not made public is disingenuous at best. It's like saying "we use the same measuring stick when evaluating legacies as we do when accepting other students". How else do you explain George Bush's Yale (BA) and Harvard degrees (MBA). Reply
Performance for Harvard, Yale Endowments in 2008 [view article]
coincidentally, I just wrote an article "All-weather portfolio: how Yale-Harvard endowments did that?"investmentscientist.co... Reply
Performance for Harvard, Yale Endowments in 2008 [view article]
contrarian@coalmine
Most illiquid mangers outside of endowments are audited. This is so the LP's have some assurance of the numbers. Endowments are also audited (they just don't have to report the audit to the public). There is no way the illiquid assets could be or should be marked to market. Shoot. Look at what happened last week and tell me know the exact value of any asset. FAS 157 has cracked down on unrealized gains and losses as much as it can. Don't be playa hatin the endowments just because they kill it EVERY YEAR. Yale, Harvard, Stanford, MIT, Princeton did not grow to be $15-40 Bn funds on donations. The donation numbers are public and they only account for <10% of the endowment growth. Reply
Performance for Harvard, Yale Endowments in 2008 [view article]
Faber, where did you get these performance numbers? I cannot seem to find it in the Yale investment office website. ReplySenkov
Performance for Harvard, Yale Endowments in 2008 [view article]
When you make a statement that one could replicate this performance using some ETFs, I'm assuming you've back-tested this. Could you please show us some more details on how you did it? Replyoalmine
Performance for Harvard, Yale Endowments in 2008 [view article]
Flamorte...You state, "he may not always be right, butr he is not mendacious in his representation of his fund's methodology"...bu... that's not my point, nor the point of this particular blog. If your mentor is not marking to market, then it's not exactly an apples to apples presentation of 2008 returns relative to the market or peer performance.I'm up 50% this year if I don't calculate unrealized losses into my performance...but no one would, or should, bother blogging about that achievement.
And, by the way, I'm not going to buy the non-mercenary philosophy of Ivy League endowment managers...afterall, who is the new CEO of Pimco... Reply
Performance for Harvard, Yale Endowments in 2008 [view article]
I am a Yale SOM grad, and was fortunate enough to speak to David Swensen at length about the endowment fund and its strategy. He may not always be right, butr he is not mendacious in his representation of his fund's methodology.First, remember that he is not promoting himself - others are. He is accountable to the board of the fund, and has no interest in publc opinion. True, he has written two books, but in the end, he has foregone compensation from the private sector that would be a double-digit multiple of what he is currently paid by Yale.
OMG
He makes no pretense about his asset allocation method - it may be that the people interpreting his method make their own assumptions. He is clear about the fact that his fund invests in illiquid assets that cannot be readily marked to marklet. He is clear that his method is not readily replciated by the means available to the "ordinary investor. However, he has deveoped some investment principles that have seem to have universal validity.
As for large cap U.S. stocks, well, it is public knowledge that the Yale endowment is invested in 10% U.S. equities, across the scale of market capitalization size.
No, the Yale endowment does not allow for short selling, and if you read Mr. Swensens book, you will find that, along with other famous invest managers, he would agree with the adage that "no one gets rich selling short". Whether it is market volatility, randomness or government intervention, in the long run, trying to time the market on short trades is a losing proposition for the small investor.
I wish it wasn't so (long/short trading is a lot of fun), but in the end, the fact that we are a nation in a growth stage (so far) make it so. I short successfully from time-to-time, but whatever Success I have had is ostly luckl. Maybe that will change as baby-boomers age and there is a generational net liquidation of the equity asset class, but that is speculation for now.
"Contrarian@coalm... and others. read the man's own words before passing judgement. He is a better trader than you acknowledge.
Reply
oalmine
Performance for Harvard, Yale Endowments in 2008 [view article]
I don't believe their professed returns are verified by an independent auditor. I know both funds hold illiquid real estate and the same types of poor performing bond positions that every other fund manager is holding.. but theirs have obviously not been marked to market. I'm also certain that they have core investments in many of the U.S. large cap stocks that have been taking a beating this year. And, I doubt the the covenants of the Yale and Harvard endowments allows for massive shorting of the market.I hate calling someone a liar...but, there seems to be smell of mendacity emanating from the Ivy covered offices of those funds. Reply
Performance for Harvard, Yale Endowments in 2008 [view article]
Very impressive. But through what period is this? DBC is only up 9% YTD (it's down 25% since the end of June). Reply