On Sep 11, 2007, at 2:42 PM, Daniel Davies wrote:
1) it is really odd to be citing David Swensen in support of the viewpoint that nobody, not even hedge funds can beat the market, because a) he is famous because of having put together a track record of beating the market over a long period and b) he is also famous because he achieved this by having a 26% allocation of the Yale endowment to hedge funds.
I didn't say "nobody"; I specifically listed three names of consistent outperformers: Soros, Buffett, Swensen. There's always the chance that their consistency can be a statistical fluke, but let's assume it's not. But very few money jockeys can even approach their record, so for most people - meaning almost all - it's best not even to try. I realize that a lot of folks, including possibly me, would be out of a job if that advice were widely followed, but it's still investment wisdom. Doug
