No. of Recommendations: 5
Over the past 20 years, the 8.8% annualized return for Harvard’s endowment ranked seventh of the eight Ivy League universities and, according to the National Association of College and University Business Officers, lagged 60% of university funds with more than $5 billion under management. Harvard’s 10-year return trailed 80%.
The story of the Harvard endowment’s lagging performance stems from a classic investment mistake: shifting strategies at inopportune times, chasing gains and, in short, buying high and selling low. Since 2005, Harvard has had seven endowment leaders, including three interim appointments and two who served fewer than two years.
The school ratcheted up risk before market downturns, then cut its exposure right before markets recovered. It bought once hot investments, only to watch them go sour. Recently, Harvard piled into private equity right before its performance lagged. “You just feel they’re playing catch-up ball,” says Mark Williams, a lecturer in finance at Boston University who’s followed Harvard’s endowment for years.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2024-09-29...https://archive.ph/aBMSCIs this what they call Smart Money?
