Boston Globe – Massachusetts again has some of the best money managers in the world. But unless you’re a public employee or the parent of a Harvard student, you won’t benefit much from this tremendous talent.
Harvard University’s endowment, already the nation’s largest university endowment, earned 7 to 8 percent over the past year, a period when stock markets tanked and many investment professionals lost substantial sums. Harvard’s performance, first reported yesterday by The Wall Street Journal and confirmed by a financial industry source briefed on the school’s returns, puts it at the top of an elite group of institutional investors.
Financial firm Northern Trust col lects returns on 87 endowments and foundations but not Harvard. Nevertheless, the Cambridge university’s performance would put it "at the top of the class," said Northern Trust spokesman John O’Connell.