Harvard Is Buying Dividend Stocks

Harvard University is the world’s richest college, measuring by endowment size. As a result, the $32 billion endowment, overseen by Harvard Management Co., is closely watched — with some investors looking for new investment ideas and others just curious about whether the smarty-pants Ivy League institution can put its money where its mouth is on matters of business. Right now, it’s interesting to see Harvard moving out of some big private-equity stakes. Reports indicate the university is looking to sell some $1.5 billion in holdings as it cuts back on investments that led to some rather brutal losses during the financial downturn.

So what’s Harvard doing with all that freed up cash? Well it’s keeping some as a cushion against another shock, but it appears to be investing heavily in dividend stocks and related investments. Over the decade that ended June 2011, the endowment’s best-performing asset class was fixed income. And across the last full-year reporting period, the endowment scored 21% gains — led in large part by Harvard’s portfolio of public stocks and dividend investments, which climbed more than 28%. Dividend investors shouldn’t be surprised by the fact that income and equities are a big part of Harvard’s game plan. Many of the top-performing sectors in 2011 have been dividend-rich blue chips.

Source: InvestorPlace

Related Articles:
- To Infinity and Beyond!
- Rising Dividends = Rising Returns
- Stock Dividends - The Gift of Nothing
- What's Your Retirement Vision?