Yale Beats Harvard, But . . .

Yale's endowment eked out an investment return of 3.4 percent for the fiscal year ending last June, handily beating Harvard, whose endowment lost 2 percent.

Many endowments suffered negative returns in fiscal 2016. Untutored amateurs who simply invested in a S&P 500 index fund did better, making about 4 percent.

Like the rest of us, university endowments are learning that we live in interesting but difficult times. After necessary expenditures, Yale's fund actually shrank during fiscal 2016.

Remember the good old days, when Yale boasted an annualized ten-year return of almost 18 percent?