Yale’s David F. Swensen: Keep It Simple
One of the top endowment managers in US gives his tips on the decisions one should take in the current financial situation:
- Don’t try anything fancy
- Stick to a simple diversified portfolio
- Keep your costs down
- Rebalance periodically to keep your asset allocations in line with your long-term goals
Investment Building Blocks Recommended:
- Index Funds
- Exchange Traded Funds
- Other Low-Cost Instruments
Swenson’s Proposed Allocation:
- 30% Domestic Stocks
- 15% Foreign Stocks
- 5% Emerging Market Stocks
- 20% Real Estate
- 15% Bonds
- 15% TIPS
On Diversification:
Diversification will buffer a portfolio from declines in specific asset classes. For example, he said: “If the dollar declines dramatically, you have foreign and emerging-market equities. And a declining dollar may well be associated with inflation, but a diversified portfolio would include TIPS,” to provide a hedge. “That means if any of these scenarios play out, an investor has sizable chunks of his portfolio that protect against them,” Mr. Swensen said.
On Timing the Market:
Mr. Swensen says investors should forget market timing entirely. Once an individual sets up a program, it should be rebalanced quarterly or semiannually, he said, “but it should be disciplined.”
When the markets decline, try not to pay attention, he said. “Let yourself off the hook,” he said. “If you pursue the sensible long-term policy, look at it over a 5- to 10-year period. Don’t look at five months.”
Article
IT has been a time to worry even the savviest investors. The credit markets have been in a crisis, the domestic stock market has been shaky and overseas markets haven’t been much better.
What should an individual investor do?
Don’t try anything fancy. Stick to a simple diversified portfolio, keep your costs down and rebalance periodically to keep your asset allocations in line with your long-term goals. That is the advice of David F. Swensen, who has run the Yale endowment since 1988, relying on a complex strategy that includes investments in hedge funds and other esoteric vehicles. The endowment earned 28 percent in its last fiscal year, which ended June 30, beating all other endowments. It finished the year with $22.5 billion.
For most people, he recommends a very basic approach: use index funds, exchange-traded funds and other low-cost instruments, and stick to your long-term asset allocation — even when the markets are in tumult.
Don’t be distracted by market forecasts, he said. “You have to diversify against the collective ignorance,” he said. “I think nobody is in a position to react to these big macro-issues. Where is the dollar going to be or what is G.D.P. growth going to be in China? For every smart person on one side of the question, there is another smart person on the other side.”
[Read More | New York Times ]
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