David Swensen, former head of the Yale Endowment, took the fund from $1.3 billion to over $30 billion, averaging over 12% annual returns over the course of three decades. His investment principles were built on the power of diversification to mitigate risk. Investors should adopt the same strategy.
Yale Chief Investment Officer Dies at 67
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Yale University’s chief investment officer, David Swensen, died Wednesday at the age of 67.
Swensen, who was diagnosed with cancer in 2012, is recognized as a pioneer in investing and endowment management. Several other wealthy universities hired talent from his Yale investment office to manage their own endowments, and a 2015
Wall Street Journalanalysis found that Swensen or one of his protégés controlled $1 of every $6 in U.S. higher education endowments.
Under Swensen, Yale followed what came to be known as the Yale model an investing strategy that reduced focus on stocks and especially bonds in favor of a diversified portfolio including alternative investments like hedge funds and real estate.
David Swensen, the pioneer of Yale who remodeled investments
On monday David Swensen despite a long battle with cancer he gave a regular class on investing at his beloved Yale University. Two days later, he finally managed to make some of the biggest money he did, 67 years old.
The investment industry has produced more than just direct and ruthless tycoons, unfortunate failures, and foolish fraudsters. In Swensen (who has run a $ 31 billion endowment for his alma mater since 1985), he had a rare asceticism when he transformed the seemingly wealthless management of the industry.
“They are great painters who change how others paint, just like Picasso. David Swensen has changed the way everyone involved in investing thinks about investing, ”he says. Charles Ellis, He directed Yale’s endowment between 1997 and 2008.
David Swensen, Yale s renowned investments head, dies at 67
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In 2019, Yale University men’s basketball head coach James Jones, left, is presented with the game ball by David Swensen, chief investment officer for the Yale University Endowment, in the locker room after his 300th career win over Brown at Lee Amphitheater in New Haven.Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticut MediaShow MoreShow Less
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Yale University Chief Investment Officer David Swensen, left, shakes hands with Yale University President Peter Salovey, center, during Yale University’s 318th Commencement in 2019 in New Haven.Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticut MediaShow MoreShow Less
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NEW HAVEN David Swensen, whose investment strategies brought Yale University’s endowment to a record $31 billion, has died.