<p>[Lubert</a> Adler Fund III and IV](<a href=“http://www.gotoby.com/news/Lubert_Adler_Fund_III_and_IV.htm]Lubert”>http://www.gotoby.com/news/Lubert_Adler_Fund_III_and_IV.htm)</p>
<p>Interesting list of investors here. Cash out real estate loans were pretty common so this is probably not the only case where creditors will go after the investors who received cash from these loans.</p>
<p>SM74- Harvard “divesting” Israeli holdings is an urban myth.</p>
<p>[Harvard</a> rebalances endowment portfolio - Daily Business Update - The Boston Globe](<a href=“http://www.boston.com/business/ticker/2010/08/harvard_rebalan.html]Harvard”>http://www.boston.com/business/ticker/2010/08/harvard_rebalan.html)</p>
<p>[Faculty</a> retirements, a HUCTW contract, and hospital aid to Harvard Med School | Harvard Magazine Sep-Oct 2010](<a href=“http://harvardmagazine.com/2010/09/in-other-financial-news]Faculty”>http://harvardmagazine.com/2010/09/in-other-financial-news)</p>
<p>Didn’t realize that so many professors were offered early retirement at Harvard. </p>
<p>As far as the divestment issue I think there are some clever semantics at work. My impression is that Harvard has sold all its “direct” investments in Israel companies and is saying that they still hold “indirect” investments in Israel through its outside investors.</p>
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Is there such a thing? Columbia and Penn do have endowments that are significantly larger than Brown, but they also have much larger student populations, which means that per-student they are no better off, if not worse off.</p>
<p>And I think Penn’s budget from endowment is only 7-9% if memory serves.</p>
<p>no sm74, its that they shifted Israel to developed country from emerging market, which impacted their balance of funds.</p>
<p>There has been no particularly important divestment movement at Harvard. Why would they divest quietly if not under pressure?</p>
<p><a href=“http://blogs.reuters.com/felix-salmon/2010/08/16/harvard-isnt-divesting-from-israel/[/url]”>http://blogs.reuters.com/felix-salmon/2010/08/16/harvard-isnt-divesting-from-israel/</a></p>
<p>[Private</a> Equity Funds Lose Commitments From Pensions - Bloomberg](<a href=“Bloomberg - Are you a robot?”>Bloomberg - Are you a robot?)</p>
<p>Interesting article on the state of the PE market that endowments are heavily invested in.</p>
<p>Moody’s awards St. Olaf higher grade.
[Moody’s</a> awards St. Olaf higher grade](<a href=“http://www.stolaf.edu/news/index.cfm?fuseaction=NewsDetails&id=4937]Moody’s”>Moody's awards St. Olaf higher grade)</p>
<p>[Street</a> Jumps on Property - WSJ.com](<a href=“Street Jumps on Property - WSJ”>Street Jumps on Property - WSJ)</p>
<p>Interesting article that highlights what a complete disaster PE real-estate has been for endowments. “By some estimates 80% of the $420B amassed by RE funds since 1999 was raised from 2005-09, the height of the market. And the money was spent quickly. Now amid depressed property values and maturing loans a total of 40 PE real estate funds have gone back to their investors for additional capital since last year… But only a handful have been successful, as existing fund investors like pension funds and college endowments worry about throwing good money after bad.”</p>
<p>Endowments piled into Real Estate PE in 2005 because it was wildly profitable before 2005 Rather than taking profits most endowments doubled down thinking the good times would keep rolling. Evidence of just how bad things have gone also in todays WSJ as Starwood Capital bought a $300M Citigroup loan on a PE owned resort project in Anguilla for $105M.</p>
<p>Most money is made in RE when times are bad. You make money when you buy right. And sell to the fools.</p>
<p>Barrons, I think that pretty much applies to about any investment. At some colleges they seemed to have forgotten the line about past performance not necessarily being an indicator of future performance. Reason why Harvard is now desperately trying to sell some of those investments.</p>
<p>I’d be interested in hearing any thoughts or insights about Harvard’s 11% gain:</p>
<p><a href=“Harvard Endowment Reports 11% Return for Year - The New York Times”>Harvard Endowment Reports 11% Return for Year - The New York Times;
<p>Or is there not much to say, as in an 11% gain when the S&P is up 14% is not really newsworthy. And in terms of the dangerous investments, maybe we’re still waiting for the debacle.</p>
<p>What I found interesting was how critical HMC was of Private Equity. I think this reflects 2 things, first my guess is that HMC is still not getting much cash from their PE funds exiting investments. This puts alot of pressure on HMC to generate cash from their other investments. Secondly, I think they probably have some PE investments where they just don’t trust the fund. The annual report should shed light on what is happening inside the endowment and how successful HMC has been in getting their actual allocations between categories closer to their target allocations.</p>
<p>[Harvard</a> Said to End Talks to Sell Real Estate to China Fund - Bloomberg](<a href=“Bloomberg - Are you a robot?”>Bloomberg - Are you a robot?)</p>
<p>Trying to put a positive spin on this development. My guess is that after some due diligence China realized these funds weren’t very attractive.</p>
<p>sm74-Your definition of “poorer” and “middle” endowment is misleading. The biggest Ivy has about 4 times the students as the smallest Ivy. Dartmouth is not among the poorer ones, and Penn and Columbia are not in the middle. Ivies can be divided into three groups with regards to this. The poorer ones are Cornell, Brown, Penn, and Columbia. Dartmouth is in the middle (Penn may emerge into this middle group after the past couple of years). HYP are rich beyond doubt. This is evident even in each college’s financial aid package. HYP almost invariably give the most. Dartmouth is extremely generous as well. Penn’s, Columbia’s, and Brown’s are ok, while Cornell most often gives the least I don’t know about the poor Ivies, but I know Harvard, Princeton, and Dartmouth used to hire limos for their students during formals, which I’m sure have been cut.</p>
<p>google: Harvard endowment Oregon Forests</p>
<p>Some areas in Oregon that used to be owned by timber and paper companies are now owned by other investors for other future uses.</p>
<p>bird rock:</p>
<p>As far as Harvard’s relative performance, I think it’s too early. We only have endowment reports from two schools (Harvard and UVa), so we really don’t have a benchmark yet. In theory, the largest endowments should perform better than average, but Harvard performed relatively poorly last year. We don’t really know how an 11% return will compare until some more schools start to weigh in.</p>
<p>[Exclusive:</a> SEC sets its sights on Vision Capital | Reuters](<a href=“http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE68L4KO20100922]Exclusive:”>Exclusive: SEC sets its sights on Vision Capital | Reuters)</p>
<p>It looks like the SEC is starting to finally take a much needed look at aggressive valuation issues with hegde funds and private equity. This hedge fund - run by a former professor at Harvard Business School no less- looks to be a prime example of what can happen with valuations. Interesting quote,“I would not be surprised if the SEC is looking at their very aggressive valuations…This is an issue that has dogged not only PIPE hedge funds but all hedge funds.”</p>
<p>[Amherst-to-Yale</a> Funding Need Follows Harvard’s Crisis Over Cash - BusinessWeek](<a href=“Bloomberg - Are you a robot?”>Bloomberg - Are you a robot?)</p>
<p>Another good article on the alarming amount of taxable debt being issued</p>
<p>[Ex-NIR</a> Analyst Admits Fraud, Kickbacks | FINalternatives](<a href=“http://www.finalternatives.com/node/13116]Ex-NIR”>http://www.finalternatives.com/node/13116)</p>
<p>Another example of valuation fraud in a very large hedge fund that is similar to the situation at Vision Capital</p>
<p>Dartmouth report 6% growth in endowment. Seems kinda weak to me.</p>
<p>[TheDartmouth.com</a> | College endowment increases by 6 percent](<a href=“http://thedartmouth.com/2010/09/24/news/endowment]TheDartmouth.com”>http://thedartmouth.com/2010/09/24/news/endowment)</p>