Saturday, December 19, 2009

Harvard Swaps so Toxic Even Summers Won't Explain

Here.

I tend to think part of the problem was that Harvard panicked and sold the swaps at the worst possible time -- around the time I was using my student loan money to buy into the market. Also, I'd like to know what Harvard's damage is as of today. The market has recovered quite a bit from this summer, what matters is how Harvard's endowment does in relation to assets as a whole. If Harvard's endowment loses 30% when the market is down 45%, that doesn't strike me as a stupidly risky investment strategy... but if Harvard's endowment was down 30% at a point when the Dow was only down 25%, then it's a bit of a head-scratcher, as college endowments should arguably be a less risky with their investments than young single males 20+ years from retirement...

2 comments:

  1. I get a helluva delightful case of schadenfreude from Harvard's troubles.

    Here's a suggestion: They could save some bucks, and do the entire planet a favor, if they shut down their econ department and the Kennedy School of Government.
    -- sglover

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