Charley Ellis – The Magic of David Swensen

Ted Seides – Allocator and Asset Management Expert

Charley Ellis is the founder of Greenwich Associates, author of sixteen investment books, and now a three-time guest on the show. The bookends of his published library - his seminal book, Investment Policy, and most recent work, The Index Revolution, discuss the case for indexing for most investors.

Yet one of Charley’s most longstanding and passionate engagements proved the exception to the rule – his decade and a half of service on Yale University’s Investment Committee, including nine years as Chair. Charley and I first met about twenty-five years ago in that capacity, and he’s occupied a front row seat to Yale’s success ever since.

With the recent passing of David Swensen, we decided to sit down and reminisce about David in a conversational tribute to the investor, man, and leader we both so greatly admired. We discuss Yale’s Investment Committee, roster of managers, investment team, and the unique aspects that made David great. We also touch on Charley’s latest book, the 8th edition of his seminal classic.