What to learn from Ivy League endowments’ investment success
Posted on: March 18, 2009
University endowments are important institutions. They play a critical role in maintaining the academic excellence of the universities that rely heavily on their income. Recently, these endowments have drawn much attention because of their superior investment returns compared to other institution investors, such as investment banks and insurance companies.
There is much diversity among university endowments. Ivy League endowments such as those of Yale and Harvard are well ahead of the pack in terms of investment returns.
Between 1994 and 2005, Ivy League endowments returned an average of 14.9% per year, compared to 11.7% for all university endowments and 9.7% for the S&P 500. Surprisingly, this high average return was achieved with less risk! The return volatility of Ivy League endowments was 8.8%, compared to 9% for all university endowments and 16.9% for the S&P 500. Clearly, these endowments have done something right!
Chart: Comparing the returns of Ivy League endowments, all university endowments and the S&P 500. “All Return” denotes the returns of all university endowments. “All Bench” denotes the returns of mimicking all university endowments using asset class indexes. “Ivy Return” denotes the returns of Ivy League university endowment. “All Bench” denotes the returns of mimicking Ivy League university endowment using asset class indexes.
Data source: Lerner, Schoar and Wang, 2008, “Secrets of Academic: The Driver of University Endowment Success.”
Ivy League endowments derive their superior returns from two sources: asset allocation and investment selection. Ordinary investors can mimic their asset allocation, which is public information, to some extent. If investors buy each asset class index fund in proportion to the Ivy League endowment allocation, they may be able to achieve the Ivy Benchmark Return of 9.8% with 12.1% volatility. This is clearly superior to the S&P 500.
Ordinary investors, however, should not attempt to mimic Ivy League endowments’ investment selection. They do not have the knowledge, rigorous investment process, and access to highly-skilled investment managers to be successful.
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2 Responses to "What to learn from Ivy League endowments’ investment success"
April 17, 2009 at 3:21 pm
I disagree with you. They do have a lot of illiquid assets but they were not forced to sell. They could easily raise fund from other source. In fact, one of David Swensen’s key insights is that liquidity is over priced. People pay a premium for it, but when they need it, it is never there. The experience last year actually confirms his insight.
The Investment Scientist 
April 17, 2009 at 2:56 pm
As we know now that the Yale Model did not work when the credit bubble bursted. They are being forced to sell their illiquid assets at a deep discount. Government bonds are the real diversification drivers because they have different source of return. Gov’t bonds include all government issuers not just the U.S. government.