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Pioneering Portfolio Management: An Unconventional Approach to Institutional Investment (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "This book provides readers with a window on the world of institutional funds management, drawing on my fourteen years of experience in managing Yale's endowment,..." (more)
Key Phrases: asset class characteristics, purchasing power preservation, active management opportunities, Wall Street, Common Fund, Morgan Stanley (more...)
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)

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Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Swensen has been the chief investment officer for the past 14 years at Yale University, where he is responsible for managing and investing more than $6 billion of the university's endowment assets and investment funds. Realizing an annual return of more than 16 percent on his investments, Swensen has added more than $2 billion to Yale's coffers, and his consistent track record has attracted the notice of Wall Street portfolio managers. Here Swensen provides a brief history of endowment funds and explains the purpose of endowment accumulation and the goals for institutional portfolios. One of the strategies behind his success has been to diversify asset classes and move beyond a reliance on domestic marketable securities. He distinguishes between traditional and alternative asset classes, looks at performance evaluation issues and tools, and considers the investment decision-making process. Although its audience will be limited, this book is a necessary purchase for libraries with collections that include the topic of investment management. David Rouse
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Review

Richard C. Levin F.W. Beinecke Professor of Economics and President, Yale University David Swensen's creative and disciplined approach to investment has given Yale the resources it needs to augment its capacity for excellence in scholarship and teaching. Those who absorb the wisdom in this book will likewise strengthen the institutions they serve. -- Review
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Product Details

  • Hardcover: 364 pages
  • Publisher: Free Press; 1 edition (May 15, 2000)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0684864436
  • ISBN-13: 978-0684864433
  • Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.4 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #226,480 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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More About the Author

David F. Swensen
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Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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This book provides readers with a window on the world of institutional funds management, drawing on my fourteen years of experience in managing Yale's endowment, which totaled $7.2 billion at June 30, 1999. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
asset class characteristics, purchasing power preservation, active management opportunities, stable budgetary support, portfolio biases, traditional marketable securities, exposing assets, absolute return managers, buyout arena, diversifying characteristics, endowment purchasing power, explicit leverage, absolute return portfolio, diversifying power, completeness funds, private equity managers, asset allocation targets, capital markets assumptions, rebalancing activity, absolute return strategies, asset purchasing power, absolute return investments, endowment accumulation, equity bias, operating budget support
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Wall Street, Common Fund, Morgan Stanley, United States, Boston University, Beardstown Ladies, First Capital, Yale University Investments Office, Cursitor Eaton, Harvard University, Piper Capital, Water Street Fund, Eagle Bank, Ibbotson Associates, Managed Accounts Report, Merrill Lynch, New Haven, New York Times, Salomon Mortgage Index, Burlington Industries, Cadillac Fairview, Performance Evaluation Report, Pioneering Portfolio Management, Sony Building, United Kingdom
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Customer Reviews

17 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.3 out of 5 stars (17 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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47 of 50 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A must-have for MBA students and investment professionals, April 19, 2001
First of all, Swensen and Takahashi's team puzzled me by its consistent performance to beat the benchmark for over 15 years, with last yearˇŻs stunning annual return of 41%, leading the assets under management to easily surpass $10 Billion. The book is not only a great resource to look into the minds of the people who made this happen but also a wonderful application of finance, investment, asset allocation, strategy and management that you are learning in business school. Without mentioning the merits of the finance theory and investment techniques, the book is presenting a compelling case study of how investment office fits into the picture of institution building.

Second, the fascinating aspects of the book is the ˇ°unconventional approachˇ±, not just simply statistics and financial modeling, for long-time horizon investing. For example, in asset allocation and manager selection, it can come from topdown analysis with support of quantitative modeling and sophisticated simulation; it also can come from scientific findings and number crunching to uncover the value creation process, which usually leads to the later asset allocation strategy to fully take advantage of the discoveries.

Third, the stress and analysis of alternative investment assets and absolute returns are also worthy of mentioning. Contrary to what traditional financial theories or books focusing on efficient markets, SwensenˇŻs book casts a lot of insights on the less-covered alternative asset classes and less efficient markets. Interestingly, they never seem to be constrained by their own defined class by constantly exploring those asset classes. For example, Swensen is famous for backing venture capital and private equity. It is true that they took the plunge well before others did. Nevertheless, they explore much more than that --other inefficient markets and conventionally less-discovered places.

Finally, there are some more things that I would love to see in the bookˇŻs next edition or a new book. One intriguing aspect of Yale Investment Office is its consistently great performance, which happens to coincide with the very volatile years from 1985-2001. Think about the Black Monday in 1997, the stagnation (coupled with high inflation) in late 1980s, bull market, bear market, Asian Financial Crises, Russian Default, Internet bubbles in 2000 and recent bubble-burst. How they weather through the storms as well as sunny days in a systematic way would be really worthy of reading. How do they deal with financial innovation, such as some exotic financial instruments and hedge funds?

In general, I would rate this book the highest score, with high hopes for another book from their team.

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28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Truly unique insight into institutional portfolio management, April 11, 2003
By I. Mihaljevic (United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Swensen's book is a must-read for endowment managers and other institutional investors, particularly those who take a fund-of-funds approach (as does Yale, where Swensen is Chief Investment Officer). Swensen aptly lays out the investment policy that has enabled Yale to consistently outperform other U.S. endowments. As Yale's CIO, Swensen has set a target portfolio allocation that departs significantly from the still heavily U.S. equity and debt-focused strategy of most endowments. Swensen's approach includes a large allocation to asset classes that are not highly correlated to the U.S. public equity market. He outlines these "alternative" classes in his book, giving the reader an excellent view of how alternative investments can increase risk-adjusted portfolio returns.

Perhaps the biggest contribution of Swensen's book, however, is the debunking of myths that still lull fiducaries into making the wrong decisions, for example when it comes to picking investment managers. Swensen advises against chasing managers who have performed well simply because of their past performance. If attributes such as personal integrity and the right fee structure are lacking, solid past performance can become a liability, not an asset. Swensen describes the example of private equity firm KKR-- after tremendous early successes, the flood of investor capital into KKR enabled the firm's partners to set up a fee structure that ensured big payoffs for themselves even if their funds underperformed. This is just one of many valuable lessons the reader will draw from Swensen's book.

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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Worthwhile addition to your investment library, December 26, 2004
By Neil Chelo (Renton, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Fine book, it is full of common sense and worth reading. Author covers a variety of topics, from different investment periods of high inflation to stock market bubbles, large cap equities to hedge funds, asset allocation to market timing, active management to passive management...

Book highlights include:
1. Looking beyond mainstream investment opportunities. Benefits awarded to those that travel in illiquid and inefficient segments of the market.
2. Portfolio rebalancing, correlation matrix assumptions, optimizers.
3. Contrarian Investing.
4. Manager performance assessment and biases in index data.
5. Benefits of US Treasuries in a portfolio.
6. Multiple examples of BAD Investment ideas. Panic of 1998. Outlier events.

Neil R. Chelo, CFA
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Insightful and structured review of institutional money management
David Swensen has written a commendable book. Perhaps most commendable is his focus on ethical money management with a focus on fiduciary responsibility to the investor--a... Read more
Published 16 months ago by D. J Najarian

5.0 out of 5 stars As good as everyone else says.
I have recommended this book to numerous colleagues at work. We use it as a great summary of our investment philosophy and as a touchstone for investment values and sanity checks... Read more
Published 19 months ago by iliketowatch

5.0 out of 5 stars Passionate yet level-headed
The marketing/techno-speak of the investment management industry sometimes gets to be overwhelming, this book can be an antidote. Read more
Published 23 months ago by Subir Grewal

4.0 out of 5 stars Good insights; Perhaps DS cannot see his own hubris though
This is an excellent book about the workings of an institutional portfolio and the various influences pulling at investment decisions. Read more
Published 23 months ago by Kalenjin

2.0 out of 5 stars A lot of nothing
This book has very little to teach you and it's virtually unreadable. Make sure you read one or two pages before you buy in case you are like me and you can't stand his style.
Published on February 6, 2006 by Bunnyrabbit

3.0 out of 5 stars Great, but Swensen's New Book is Better
This book covers the HOW and WHY of diversification. While everyone claims to understand diversification, there have been few individuals or institutions that have actually... Read more
Published on January 19, 2006 by Mark Abraham

4.0 out of 5 stars solid primer on institutional money management
Swenson's reputation was made by the investment results he has generated, which in turn are based on good insights and steely discipline in managing a portfolio. Read more
Published on September 15, 2005 by Preston Kavanagh

4.0 out of 5 stars Thoughtful, cautious, and quite readable
This book provides some well thought out advice on how to invest. It deals mainly with strategies appropriate to handling multi-billion dollar portfolios, but many of the ideas... Read more
Published on March 12, 2004 by Peter McCluskey

4.0 out of 5 stars Many good insights
David Swensen reveals many insights available only from experience which are valuable for individuals and boards responsible for guiding large portfolios. Read more
Published on January 17, 2003 by John Sturges

5.0 out of 5 stars Original thought and a rare look into an important world
I give this the highest rating available for two reasons: First, it gives rare insight into the forces driving generally any institution and in particular investments by... Read more
Published on December 8, 2000 by Unsatisfied

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