A conversation with David F. Swensen

with David Swensen
in Business
on Wednesday, January 21, 2009 * * * * *

Sorry, this video isn’t available at the moment; please check back soon.

play

E-mail this video:

Distribute this video:

Share on:

Close
Description

A conversation with David F. Swensen, Chief Investment Officer at Yale University

Video Share Options
Share
Buy Amazon DVD
Keywords:
economy
buffett
Economics
Obama
Yale

In order to download Charlie Rose podcasts to iTunes for transfer to an iPod, you must have iTunes installed. If you do, please click the following link to download the podcast for this interview:

itpc://www.charlierose.com/view/itunes/10010

Otherwise, close this window to continue viewing.

Close
  • Comments 2
    Post new comment
    1. Anna  01/23/2009 05:47 PM Report

      David Swensen, an accomplished investor for Yale University, made a strong impression. Presenting his theory of the collapse in the global financial system, he pointed out that BEFORE TRYING TO FIX IT WE MUST ANALYSE WHAT WENT WRONG. Why did Charlie not ask him more questions about that?

      Please have David Swenson come back and allow him to discuss his theory with other top economists. To wit: David Swenson argued that we had a problem with derivatives and off balance sheet exposures twice before, during the crisis of 1987 and 1998. We did not deal with he problem then because the crisis went past too fast. Now the financial crisis is so serious that no interventions are going to be effective, unless the financial community manages to reach agreement on an analysis of the problem of derivatives and off balance sheet exposure, which is spreading from mortgage, to credit cards, car loans and corporate loans. We need to understand where these exposures are and what the magnitude of the exposure is. Before we regulate we first need to understand the scope of the problem.

      margalit

    2. lkolivakis  01/23/2009 08:30 AM Report

      Charlie,

      David Swensen is one of the best investors of all-time and I hope you bring him back again. While I enjoyed your interview, I think you should have asked him questions on his thoughts on pension funds trying to emulate Harvard or Yale endowment funds.

      For the most part, this experiment has been a disaster for pension funds, leaving many of them severely under-underfunded as the bubble in alternative investments implodes.

      In the wake of 2008, hedge funds, private equity funds and real estate funds are all reeling and while some, including Mr. Swensen, remain hopeful that they will come back, there are reasons to believe the severe disruption due to deleveraging and deflation of asset classes will continue.

      Importantly, while the financial crisis happened on President Bush's watch, the pension crisis will happen on President Obama's watch.

      I believe that the vast majority of pension funds got in way over their head investing in alternative investments, trying to emulate Harvard and Yale endowment funds.

      But unlike endowments, pension funds should have been more prudent investing in these asset classes. The pension crisis is a topic you need to address on your show because it will be the next huge public policy issue.

      Kind regards,

      Leo Kolivakis

      Pension Pulse