Investing for Dummies
A Not Terribly Bright Idea for Harvard
Lowering costs is commendable, but going way overweight on the S&P 500 Index isn't.
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A group of 11 Harvard alumni has a plan to boost the university’s straggling endowment, but it’s not the magical fix the members imagine.
In an open letter to Harvard’s new president, Lawrence Bacow, the group recommends that the endowment move at least half its assets to a low-cost S&P 500 index fund. It’s a “radical new endowment strategy,” the alumni acknowledge. Harvard, along with other big university endowments, pioneered and still uses the so-called endowment model of investing, which calls for investments in high-priced hedge funds and private assets alongside traditional stocks and bonds.