Harvard Management, Trailing Ivy League Neighbors, Makes Abrupt Changes

The Harvard Management Company, like the markets in which the endowment invests, has experienced cyclical performance behavior.  While the 12% returns that their asset managers have generated over the past 20 years is significantly above average, lately there has been trouble.

Harvard Management’s strong 20-year performance is largely due to Jack Meyer

Harvard Management had at one time thrived in the 1990s under the leadership of Jack Meyer, who operated the endowment for 15 years. He transformed the endowment into a hedge fund structure, hiring proprietary traders to work inside the firm rather than allocate money entirely to outside money managers. Though there were controversies, but the endowment...