Yale's Investment Partners
Yale's investment partners clearly articulate and effectively execute sustainable long-term investment strategies. Common among the diverse set of strategies in Yale's portfolio is an adherence to first-principles based investing backed by deep research and intellectual honesty. Alongside these fundamental traits, the stewards of Yale's capital exhibit a passion for investing equaled only by their high integrity. These qualities sit at the core of the organizations of our investment partners and enable them to achieve market beating returns over a long-term horizon.
Opportunistic and Open-Minded
We invest with a value-based approach that relies on observable data. Starting from first-principles allows Yale to consider investment strategies other investors ignore. By focusing on the merits of an idea and the people pursuing it, Yale made early commitments to what are now mainstream categories. For example, we pursued opportunities in leveraged buyouts, venture capital, and hedge funds in the 1980s and emerging markets and timber in the 1990s.
Investing Early and for the Long Term
Yale seeks exceptional investors with a clear thought process, a sound investment philosophy, and a passion for investing. Our team actively searches for partners who are focused on establishing long-term partnerships and building sustainable organizations. We have partnered with many of our managers for more than ten years, and several partnerships span more than 20 years.
Start-up managers play a central role in the Endowment's portfolio. Yale readily partners with early-stage managers without formal track records or a substantial capital base. We encourage investors of all types to contact us - large or small, traditional or nontraditional. Looking back, many of our least conventional partnerships have been our longest lasting and most fruitful. The best time to start the conversation is now.
Yale aspires to be a great partner. We work hard to shape partnerships that reward both Yale (the contributor of capital) and the investment manager (the contributor of expertise). We work carefully with each of our investment managers to structure a partnership that fits the fund's strategy and time horizon. With our experience, thoughts, and global perspective, we can help investment organizations reach their full potential. Our experience allows us to engage with our managers to serve as a sounding board for organizational and structural decisions, to provide a forum for intellectual discussion, and to offer a conduit to other high-quality endowments and foundations. Finally, and most importantly, a partnership with Yale offers investors the opportunity to support the activities of one of the world's great universities.
Please email prospective.managers@invest.yale.edu if you're interested in starting a conversation with us. We are eager to develop partnerships with the next generation of great investment managers, and we will respond to your email if the opportunity could be a good fit for Yale’s portfolio.
As part of Yale University, the Investments Office is committed to the University’s equal opportunity principles. The University’s equal opportunity policy statement can be found at http://catalog.yale.edu/dus/university-policy-statements/equal-opportunity/.