S&P 500 vs Havard Endowment , June 30 2019.

[Thailand J]

"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

Edited October 12, 2019 by Thailand J

[Oxx]

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.

[moontang]

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. 

Edited October 13, 2019 by moontang

[Thailand J]

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.

 

[moontang]

UVa also got creamed during the crisis, with a similar MO.