Quoted

“The critics argue that during the past year, a traditional portfolio of 60 percent stocks and 40 percent bonds would have lost only 13 percent of its value, rather than the 25 percent lost by the diversified portfolios of the largest [university] endowments. . . . Over the past ten years, Yale's endowment realized average annual returns of 11.7 percent to reach its current value of $16 billion; a 60-40 portfolio would have earned 2.1 percent, resulting in an endowment of only $4.4 billion. The moral of the story is that universities should stick with the Swensen strategy, not abandon it now.”

—President Rick Levin ’74PhD, defending the investment model of Yale CIO David Swensen ’80PhD in an August 17 Newsweek essay.