Harvard's Portfolio.
More Kudos to Paul Kedrosky in analysing Harvard's endowment portfolio. I've excerpted with comments and a link @ the end.
"There has been lots of chatter about Harvard Management letting go a significant chunk of its staff, as well as winding down much of its equity portfolio, as a filing this week showed. I thought it would be interesting to take a little closer look at what Harvard has done.
From September 30th to today, Harvard has cut the public equity portion... of its $28.8-billion portfolio from $2.8-billion and 174 positions, to $571-million and 57 positions. That is a remarkable change in such a short period.
Things are equally interesting when you go down to individual holdings. Here (table to the top left) are the top ten Harvard positions back in September, and what has happened to them since. As you can see, while the top September position has stayed the same, there has otherwise been big changes. Four of the top ten Harvard holdings are gone, and two of the other positions have vaulted to prominence from deep in the portfolio.
From September 30th to today, Harvard has cut the public equity portion... of its $28.8-billion portfolio from $2.8-billion and 174 positions, to $571-million and 57 positions. That is a remarkable change in such a short period.
Things are equally interesting when you go down to individual holdings. Here (table to the top left) are the top ten Harvard positions back in September, and what has happened to them since. As you can see, while the top September position has stayed the same, there has otherwise been big changes. Four of the top ten Harvard holdings are gone, and two of the other positions have vaulted to prominence from deep in the portfolio.
Now, here is a table of the top ten Harvard positions today versus where they were back in September (table to the top right):
While Harvard dumped many of its top holdings from September, its current top ten positions are all ones it held back in September. Nothing is new. There were, however, some big jumps, with positions increasing significantly in prominence given all the liquidations. More striking is the changed role of ETFs, with five of the top ten September 08 positions having been exchange-traded funds, but nine (!) of its top ten positions being exchanged-traded funds now. With this new fondness for ETFs, is it any surprise that Harvard is shrinking the size of its investing team?"
While Harvard dumped many of its top holdings from September, its current top ten positions are all ones it held back in September. Nothing is new. There were, however, some big jumps, with positions increasing significantly in prominence given all the liquidations. More striking is the changed role of ETFs, with five of the top ten September 08 positions having been exchange-traded funds, but nine (!) of its top ten positions being exchanged-traded funds now. With this new fondness for ETFs, is it any surprise that Harvard is shrinking the size of its investing team?"
My comment:-ETFs are a game changer. We are only in about inning two of where they are taking us. More and more professionals are concluding that the single stock risk continues to outweigh the rewards. Harvard is at the vanguard of changes that will significantly impact how money will be invested over the course of the next decade.
posted by CR English at 6:08 AM
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