3 Index Funds vs. Harvard's $57 Billion Endowment

What if Harvard offered to manage your money, the same way it manages its $57 billion endowment? In this video I compare Harvard's returns with a simple three-fund portfolio of low-cost Vanguard index funds, set to roughly the same mix the endowments report: 86% stocks and 14% bonds. Who will win?

Resources mentioned in the video:

Harvard's 11.9% return (ai-CIO): https://www.ai-cio.com/news/harvards-calculated-risk-leads-to-11-9-reward-in-fiscal-2025/
Harvard Fact Book, endowment returns: https://oira.harvard.edu/factbook/fact-book-endowment/
Harvard Management Company FY25 report: https://www.hmc.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/FY25_HMC_Annual_Report.pdf
NACUBO-Commonfund Study of Endowments FY25: https://www.nacubo.org/Press-Releases/2026/US-Higher-Education-Endowments-Report-Stable-Returns-Increase-Spending-to-33-4-Billion-in-FY25
Richard Ennis, The Endowment Syndrome (2024): https://richardmennis.com/blog/the-endowment-syndrome-why-elite-funds-are-falling-behind
Richard Ennis, Endowment Performance (2020): https://richardmennis.com/blog/endowment-performance
The 3-fund backtest (testfol.io): https://testfol.io/?s=aRrlNrVCav1

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0:00 Would you let Harvard manage your money?
0:16 Harvard's 11.9% year
1:21 One year: Harvard vs. 3 index funds
1:50 What's inside each portfolio
2:46 What each portfolio costs
3:28 3, 5 and 10-year results
4:16 Is 86/14 a fair fight?
4:53 Harvard's best argument: 2022
5:59 So what? Four lessons
6:13 1. Fees
6:48 2. Complexity
7:09 3. Diversification
8:18 4. Expensive advisors

ABOUT ME

While still working as a trial attorney in the securities field, I started writing about personal finance and investing In 2007. In 2013 I started the Doughroller Money Podcast, which has been downloaded millions of times. I've since sold my websites, bought them back, and started a new website and this YouTube channel.

I'm also the author of Retire Before Mom and Dad--The Simple Numbers Behind a Lifetime of Financial Freedom (https://amzn.to/3by10EE)

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