Thailand J Posted October 12, 2019 Share Posted October 12, 2019 "Even the best and brightest analysts fail to beat the stock market consistently. Think you have a hard time beating the U.S. stock market? Consider Harvard University’s endowment fund, which at more than $40 billion is the largest academic endowment in the world. It is run by some of the smartest investment managers around. Yet for the fourth fiscal year in a row — and the ninth of the last 10 — Harvard’s endowment lagged the S&P 500 SPX, +1.09% Here are the specifics: For the fiscal year ending June 30, Harvard reported last week, its endowment gained 6.5%, versus 8.2% for the S&P 500 on a dividend-adjusted basis. The only year of the last 10 in which the endowment came out ahead was fiscal 2015, in which it beat the S&P 500 by half of a percentage point. The net result is that the university endowment’s return lags the S&P 500 over the trailing five- and 10-year periods, as seen in the chart below. By the way, Harvard’s mediocre performance isn’t an outlier. Other large university endowments also trailed the S&P 500 for the year ending June 30: Yale University, for example, reported a 5.7% increase; Dartmouth College, 7.5%, Stanford, 6.5%." From Market Watch : https://www.marketwatch.com/story/heres-what-you-likely-have-in-common-with-harvards-endowment-managers-2019-10-08?mod=mw_latestnews Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oxx Posted October 13, 2019 Share Posted October 13, 2019 Meaningless comparison. University endowment funds are run to preserve wealth across generations, and as such invest conservatively. One wouldn't expect (or want) them to keep up with the S&P in raging markets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moontang Posted October 13, 2019 Share Posted October 13, 2019 7 hours ago, Oxx said: Meaningless comparison. University endowment funds are run to preserve wealth across generations, and as such invest conservatively. One wouldn't expect (or want) them to keep up with the S&P in raging markets. I recall they fared worse during the crisis, also.. but if you look at a 50 year SPY chart, the GFC is just a divet in an upward ski slope. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thailand J Posted October 13, 2019 Author Share Posted October 13, 2019 Harvard . The world's best business school. At one point had 230 employees to manage the endowment, I assume many are Harvard graduates. Can't tell how conservative they are without looking at thier list of holdings. Their 2017 asset allocations do not look conservative with 3% cash, 8% bond. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moontang Posted October 13, 2019 Share Posted October 13, 2019 UVa also got creamed during the crisis, with a similar MO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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