The hedge fundification of American universities

2016-03-11T14:27:00-05:00

Have you heard the latest wisecrack about Harvard? People are calling it a hedge fund with a university attached [...] Though the exact figure is hard to determine, experts I consulted estimate that over $100 billion of educational endowment money nationwide is invested in hedge funds, costing them approximately $2.5 billion in fees in 2015 alone. The problems with hedge funds managing college endowments are manifold, going well beyond the exorbitant...fees they charge for their services.

"The time has come for students to connect the dots between ballooning student debt, the poor treatment of campus workers, and the obscene wealth of hedge fund oligarchs."

A rallying cry for a divestment movement to oppose hedge funds and their involvement with academia, the article discusses the relatively new relationship between universities and high risk investing. Not only are money managers – and often university trustees – making off with obscene profits, the finance industry has actively lobbied against policies "designed to curb inequality."

For more on the implications and ramifications of academia's historically-unprecedented flirtations with finance, check out these links:

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The hedge fundification of American universities