22 Apr 2019

The Secret to Yale’s Success

I’ve written about David Swensen and the Yale Endowment several times over the years (here and here, for example) because i find both fascinating. I first learned about Swensen in 2005, when he was heralded ‘Yale’s $8 Billion Man’ upon the 20th anniversary of taking over the endowment.  The performance during that period was remarkable: 16.1 percent versus the S&P 500, which earned 11.9 percent during the same time frame. … Read More

3 Sep 2015

The Chart That Made Me Laugh Out Loud

I think you know by now that I love charts.  I am definitely not saying that I am a chartist – I don’t think I have ever made an investment decision for me or anyone else based on a chart.  I simply think that if a picture tells a million words then a chart must at least tell 1,000 (roughly matching my wordcount) When I saw a blog titled ‘econompic,’… Read More

26 Aug 2014

The Unique Benefits of REITs

As the S&P 500 continues to break new records, another asset class has handily outperformed the stock market so far this year: REITs. REIT is short for Real Estate Investment Trust and refers to securities (corporations or trusts in most cases) that own and operate income-producing commercial real estate. REITs are an attractive way to build a diversified portfolio of commercial real estate since the barrier to entry for a… Read More