Synopses & Reviews
An indispensable roadmap for creating a successful investment program from Yaleand#8217;s chief investment officer, David F. Swensen.andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;In the years since the now-classic andlt;Iandgt;Pioneering Portfolio Managementandlt;/Iandgt; was first published, the global investment landscape has changed dramatically -- but the results of David Swensen's investment strategy for the Yale University endowment have remained as impressive as ever. Year after year, Yale's portfolio has trumped the marketplace by a wide margin, and, with over $20 billion added to the endowment under his twenty-three-year tenure, Swensen has contributed more to Yale's finances than anyone ever has to any university in the country. What may have seemed like one among many success stories in the era before the Internet bubble burst emerges now as a completely unprecedented institutional investment achievement.andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt; In this fully revised and updated edition, Swensen, author of the bestselling personal finance guide andlt;Iandgt;Unconventional Success,andlt;/Iandgt; describes the investment process that underpins Yale's endowment. He provides lucid and penetrating insight into the world of institutional funds management, illuminating topics ranging from asset-allocation structures to active fund management. Swensen employs an array of vivid real-world examples, many drawn from his own formidable experience, to address critical concepts such as handling risk, selecting advisors, and weathering market pitfalls.andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt; Swensen offers clear and incisive advice, especially when describing a counterintuitive path. Conventional investing too often leads to buying high and selling low. Trust is more important than flash-in-the-pan success. Expertise, fortitude, and the long view produce positive results where gimmicks and trend following do not.andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt; The original andlt;Iandgt;Pioneering Portfolio Managementandlt;/Iandgt; outlined a commonsense template for structuring a well-diversified equity-oriented portfolio. This new edition provides fund managers and students of the market an up-to-date guide for actively managed investment portfolios.
Review
Jack R. Meyer,President and CEO, Harvard Management Company, Inc. A masterful work by the master himself. We at Harvard wish that David Swensen would find a new job.
Review
Burton G. Malkiel, Chemical Bank Chairman?s Professor of Economics, Princeton University One of the world's most successful institutional fund managers presents powerful insights to help us become better investors. A must-read for both institutional and serious individual investors.
Review
Peter L. Bernstein, President Peter L. Bernstein, Inc. This book will be a classic: it is essential reading for all investors, great and small. David Swensen is a leader and pioneer whose words reveal a rare combination of courage, integrity, and intelligence. No one can fail to find value here.
Review
Barton M. Biggs, Chairman, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter Investment Management David Swensen is one of the best and most original fiduciaries of modern times. His thinking has survived the battlefields and it has worked for big money.
Review
Richard C. Levin F.W. Beinecke Professor of Economics and President, Yale University David Swensen's creative and disciplined approach to investment has given Yale the resources it needs to augment its capacity for excellence in scholarship and teaching. Those who absorb the wisdom in this book will likewise strengthen the institutions they serve.
Synopsis
During his fourteen years as Yale's chief investment officer, David F. Swensen has transformed the management of the university's portfolio. Largely by focusing on nonconventional strategies, including a heavy allocation to private equity, Swensen has achieved an annualized return of 16.2 percent, which has propelled Yale's endowment into the top tier of institutional funds. Now, this acknowledged leader of fund managers draws on his experience and deep knowledge of the financial markets to provide a compendium of powerful investment strategies.
Swensen presents an overview of the investment world populated by institutional fund managers, pension fund fiduciaries, investment managers, and trustees of universities, museums, hospitals, and foundations. He offers penetrating insights from his experience managing Yale's endowment, ranging from broad issues of goals and investment philosophy to the strategic and tactical aspects of portfolio management. Swensen's exceptionally readable book addresses critical concepts such as handling risk, selecting investment advisers, and negotiating the opportunities and pitfalls in individual asset classes. Fundamental investment ideas are illustrated by real-world concrete examples, and each chapter contains strategies that any manager can put into action.
At a time when it is becoming increasingly difficult to cope with the relentless challenges provided by today's financial markets, Swensen's book is an indispensable roadmap for creating a successful investment program for every institutional fund manager. Any student of markets will benefit from Pioneering Portfolio Management.
Synopsis
An indispensable roadmap for creating a successful investment program from Yale's chief investment officer, David F. Swensen.
In the years since the now-classic Pioneering Portfolio Management was first published, the global investment landscape has changed dramatically -- but the results of David Swensen's investment strategy for the Yale University endowment have remained as impressive as ever. Year after year, Yale's portfolio has trumped the marketplace by a wide margin, and, with over $20 billion added to the endowment under his twenty-three-year tenure, Swensen has contributed more to Yale's finances than anyone ever has to any university in the country. What may have seemed like one among many success stories in the era before the Internet bubble burst emerges now as a completely unprecedented institutional investment achievement.
In this fully revised and updated edition, Swensen, author of the bestselling personal finance guide Unconventional Success, describes the investment process that underpins Yale's endowment. He provides lucid and penetrating insight into the world of institutional funds management, illuminating topics ranging from asset-allocation structures to active fund management. Swensen employs an array of vivid real-world examples, many drawn from his own formidable experience, to address critical concepts such as handling risk, selecting advisors, and weathering market pitfalls.
Swensen offers clear and incisive advice, especially when describing a counterintuitive path. Conventional investing too often leads to buying high and selling low. Trust is more important than flash-in-the-pan success. Expertise, fortitude, and the long view produce positive results where gimmicks and trend following do not.
The original Pioneering Portfolio Management outlined a commonsense template for structuring a well-diversified equity-oriented portfolio. This new edition provides fund managers and students of the market an up-to-date guide for actively managed investment portfolios.
About the Author
andlt;Bandgt;David F. Swensenandlt;/Bandgt; is the chief investment officer of Yale University and the bestselling author of andlt;Iandgt;Pioneering Portfolio Managementandlt;/Iandgt;. He serves on the boards of TIAA, The Brookings Institution, Carnegie Institution, and Hopkins School. At Yale, where he produced an unparalleled two-decade investment record of 16.1 percent-per-annum returns, he teaches economics classes at Yale College and finance classes at Yaleand#185;s School of Management. Mr. Swensen lives in New Haven, Connecticut.
Table of Contents
FOREWORD BY CHARLES D. ELLIS
TOBIN'S FRIEND: FOREWORD TO THE 2000 EDITION
1. INTRODUCTION
2. ENDOWMENT PURPOSES
3. INVESTMENT AND SPENDING GOALS
4. INVESTMENT PHILOSOPHY
5. ASSET ALLOCATION
6. ASSET ALLOCATION MANAGEMENT
7. TRADITIONAL ASSET CLASSES
8. ALTERNATIVE ASSET CLASSES
9. ASSET CLASS MANAGEMENT
10. INVESTMENT PROCESS
APPENDIX: IMPURE FIXED INCOME
NOTES
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
INDEX
ABOUT THE AUTHOR