From the FT:
Harvard is looking for investment managers with expertise as short-sellers, as the world’s biggest university endowment becomes more cautious about the outlook for financial markets.
In its latest annual report, which showed investment returns fell to 5.8 per cent in the year to June, the $38bn endowment said its managers had started to increase cash holdings and feared that some markets had become “frothy”.
“We are proceeding with caution in several areas of the portfolio,” Harvard Management Company chief executive Stephen Blyth wrote in the report.
“We are being particularly discriminating about underwriting and return assumptions given current valuations.
“In addition, we have renewed focus on identifying public equity managers with demonstrable investment expertise on both the long and short sides of the market.”
Very sensible. Australian commentators still see short-sellers as worshiping Satan, no doubt owing to the dumb bubble that has taken hold over the past 25 years. Why rob yourself of opportunities going up and down, I ask ya?
