Opinion: Harvard’s Investments Show Signs of Error

A closer look at one snapshot of Harvard’s overall asset management shows the university’s recent financial performance to be lacking and suggests that the managers running the institution’s portfolio mistakenly believed that emerging markets and commodities would continue to perform strongly even as the United States struggled, writes columnist Daniel Gross for Slate.

The 13-F form, filed quarterly by Harvard Management Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission, is not fully representative of Harvard’s overall holdings, Mr. Gross says. But the most recent filing shows that even the most seasoned and reputable long-term investors can get carried away with hot new investment trends and make some risky bets, he writes.