Canadian Capitalist Logo Dark
No Result
View All Result
Friday, September 29, 2023
  • Login
  • Register
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Investing
  • Markets
  • Real Estate
  • Retirement
  • Tax Savings
  • Trivia
  • Resources
Subscribe
Canadian Capitalist Logo Light
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Investing
  • Markets
  • Real Estate
  • Retirement
  • Tax Savings
  • Trivia
  • Resources
No Result
View All Result
Canadian Capitalist Logo Mobile
No Result
View All Result
Home Uncategorised

Performance Chasing by Professional Investors

by Ram Balakrishnan
June 16, 2009
Reading Time: 2 mins read
127 6
0
investing penny stocks
152
SHARES
1.9k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Linkedin

As a group, lemmings have a rotten image, but no individual lemming has ever received bad press.
— Warren Buffett

Professional investors, especially those working for University endowments, are supposed to have many advantages that most average retail investors don’t — access to the best research, written investment policies to take the emotions out of investing etc. But when it comes to performance chasing, these professional investors can put small investors to shame.

A recent example can be found in the behaviour of giant University endowments. These professional money managers watched David Swensen (author of Unconventional Success) outperform the stock markets by a wide margin by investing in alternative assets such as hedge funds, private equity, real estate, timber etc. and decided to copy the approach (hat tip to The Wealthy Boomer for pointing to the article):

Princeton, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Bowdoin College hired Swensen protégés to run their endowments. By the 2007 fiscal year, colleges were devoting 42 percent of their endowments to alternative investments, up from 23 percent in fiscal 2000, according to Commonfund, a money manager for nonprofit institutions.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, it hasn’t worked out too well:

Nearly every sort of alternative investment has been slammed, undermining Swensen’s diversification rationale, and his advice to downplay liquidity has backfired. With private donations dwindling and students clamoring for aid, universities that followed the Yale model find themselves in a plight that could be called cash-22. The publicly traded stocks they still own have plummeted in value, leaving the schools overdependent on illiquid alternatives—and constrained by contractual obligations to invest even more. The Yale model assumes returns when private holdings go public, but no initial public offerings are taking place.

Related posts:

  1. Finding a Financial Advisor, Part 1
  2. Carnival of Debt Reduction # 19
  3. The Income Tax Cut is Better
  4. This and That
Share61Tweet38Share11

Get real time update about this post categories directly on your device, subscribe now.

Unsubscribe
Previous Post

Withholding tax & TFSA Investments

Next Post

‘Simply Save’ with TD Bank

Ram Balakrishnan

Ram Balakrishnan

Related Posts

Why you cant afford a house in Canada

Why You Can’t Afford A Home In Canada?

January 24, 2022
444
investing benefits
Investing

Finding a Financial Advisor, Part 1

June 19, 2021
2.1k
investing in bitcoin

Is it time to invest in Bitcoins again?

May 13, 2019
2k
when do reits liquidate
Uncategorised

Performance of Currency-Neutral S&P 500 Index Funds

January 19, 2014
2k
is mortgage interest tax deductible
Uncategorised

The 2013 Sleepy Portfolio Report Card

January 12, 2014
2k
how to buy individual stocks in canada
Uncategorised

Asset Class Returns for 2013

January 5, 2014
1.9k
Next Post
mutual funds rbc

'Simply Save' with TD Bank

Please login to join discussion
Canadian Capitalist

© 2022 Canadian Capitalist

Navigate Site

  • Home
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • Advertisement
  • Contact Us

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Investing
  • Markets
  • Real Estate
  • Retirement
  • Tax Savings
  • Trivia
  • Resources

© 2022 Canadian Capitalist

Welcome Back!

Sign In with Facebook
Sign In with Google
Sign In with Linked In
OR

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Sign Up with Facebook
Sign Up with Google
Sign Up with Linked In
OR

Fill the forms below to register

*By registering into our website, you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.
All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.
two man and woman standing on doorway
The man who does not read has no advantage over the man who cannot read - Mark Twain