Yale Endowment Model Thrives as Swensen, Proteges Post Top Gains
- Private equity, venture capital investments boosted gains
- Princeton, MIT, Bowdoin each had returns of more than 12%
Yale University campus.
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The strongest university endowment returns so far this year are from Yale University and managers who once worked there.
The one thing tying the best-performing institutions together: David Swensen, the longtime investment chief at Yale. He pioneered a model that favors a longer investment horizon and committing capital to illiquid investments such as hedge funds and private equity that often provide higher returns.