Ivy League Investors

For more than 20 years, one man has supervised Yale University's endowment portfolio, which regularly posts high annual rates of return, averaging more than 16 percent. Surrounded by academics and holding a doctorate degree himself, David Swensen invests for the long term and defies the conventional wisdom that individual investors cannot beat the markets. Yet a track record such as Swensen’s depends on more than luck, argues Yale economics professor Robert Shiller. Swensen – much like his colleagues at Harvard and Princeton universities – seeks out unusual investments often overlooked by financial analysts with their herd mentality. Shiller notes, “When an analytical mind, a mind that is trained to search rigorously for the truth and as part of a community of such people is set free from self-doubt, it can do amazing things.” No one should ever underestimate the combined power of education and confidence. – YaleGlobal