CNN Wellsmus Heroes Part 1

Kablaow! David Swensen gives you, with all the compassion he genuinely has, his flashlight through the financial darkness.

Who is he? He's actively managed the Yale Endowment to a staggering 28 billion dollars. And if you have questions about how they use that money, please read this article in Dec/Jan 09 Worth first. But I can't find it online, for your persual, which is a darn shame! I may have to buy this magazine and leave it on the house coffee table for all to read.

Hero: Someone who works diligently for an overall worthwhile cause, does an exceptional job, and tries to help others achieve the same. David Swensen, you are a MaureenDowdIsWorthless hero and someone that Wellsmus wishes he could work for.

So, let me do some quoting:

David Swensen on why Yale doesn't make it totally free tuition for all:

"If you dig beneath the surface and look at the extraordinary financial aid that's available, something like only the top five percent of money earners in the country wouldn't qualify for financial assistance. And I don't think it makes any sense to subsidize the wealthy."

David Swensen on why they don't spend more of the endowment:

"Even with four or five modifications to the spending rule [spending more money, in other words], we ended up with contemporary spending rates lower than we wanted. (Laughs) I don't think we're going to have that problem anymore."

David Swensen on results:

"When I started, the endowment's contribution to the operating budget was $45 million. Today we're contributing $1.15 billion. So the spending from the endowment this year is more than the endowment was when I started."

On Jim Cramer:

"Jim Cramer is a Charlatan. He turns the serious issue of personal financial security into a complete joke. There is nothing that comes out of James Cramer's mouth that allows people to make intelligent investment decisions."

On Richard Fuld, of Lehman:

"The debate when he testified in front of Congress was whether he made $450 million in the past seven or eight years or whether he made $350 million. I'm sure Dick Fuld is devastated by the demise of Lehman Brothers, but he still made staggering amounts of money."

On John Mack, of Morgan Stanley:

"It was just extraordinary that somebody like John Mack, who's in charge of Morgan Stanley, a firm that made staggering amounts of money from facilitating short-selling on the part of its clients, would have the gumption to get up and blame the short-seller for the troubles that Morgan Stanley found itself in."

David's books:

Pioneering Portfolio Management - this is for the institutional investor

Unconventional Success - this is for the individual investor.

Note: I believe that most of us will face these decisions at some point, and I recommend at least flipping through Unconventional Success. He is NOT POP FINANCE, so it is fairly dense reading.