Lucas Ng's blog

There’s a story over at Forbes on Harvard University’s Financial Meltdown. Harvard University has over 10,000 endowments, totalling $US36.9 billion, the world’s largest higher education endowment.

Managed by Harvard U subsidiary the Harvard Management Company, the endowment fund is deep trouble, with an estimated 30% drop in value ($US11 billion) come June 30, 2009.

Risky big bets on derivatives and exotic holdings (wait, why does that sound so familiar) have come back to haunt Harvard Management Co. resulting in five CEOs in four years and major staff cuts.