Posted on 06/18/2014 9:35:40 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Credit-ratings agency Moody's thinks Yeshiva, a private Jewish university located in New York City, will be broke by next year. Yeshiva lost an estimated $105 million losses with convicted Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff, who was also a trustee, but that's not why the university is running out of money.
According to an extensive two-year investigation by TakePart's Steven Weiss and The Jewish Channel, the administration blew the school's financial future on bad hedge fund investments over the last decade.
At one point before the 2008 financial crisis, the university became allocated 65% in hedge funds, which was the third-highest of any university endowment, the report said.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
Live by the Sword
Die by the Sword
While this university’s troubles are Madoff-specific, I sense that the overall “higher education bubble” will likely be burst by a slide in the stock-market or some other financial/debt crisis. Just like housing, the Federal Reserve and US government are pumping up a huge debt bubble in education.
It's a perennial temptation for people with PhD's to assume that they translate to business acumen. A lot of people without PhD's tend to make a lot of money that way.
Diversification fail.
Does Yeshiva pump out leftists? IF so, I hope it goes under.
Since it's in NYC, they probably do. In which case, somebody post the "Ha-Ha!" pic.
Its a shame that this is happening but its yet another lesson that there are consequences to decisions. They wanted the high returns that hedge funds bring, but did not appreciate that high risk is always associated with high returns. And no one can tell me that a bunch of university professors were duped by the hedge funds. They were greedy, wanted good returns and bet that the risk would not hit them. They are now facing the consequences of being wrong. There is no magic way out of it.
I blew it, should of been selling hedge funds in the late 90s to universities
Sort of reminds me of my brother, who within a year pissed away over $60,000. When I asked him what happened to the money, he answered, "I invested. Well, I had to take a risk."
This is from a guy who was out of work (again) & paying child support.
Understanding consequences means understanding your own situation. You can't pay, you don't play. Simple. My brother apparently decided to use everyone around him (especially me) as his safety net.
In the case of Yeshiva, it was wrong to invest when the fate of so many employees depends on savings & assets. Friends who work there (incidentally, it is a right-wing, not left-wing religious institution) are quaking in their boots. Already there have been a number of voluntary retirement packages.
Trustee? Ironic.
The building is going to make some nice offices or condos.
My 3 sisters spent the $55,000 they each received after our father passed away. One sister blew it in 9 months on partying. Anytime I called her I could hear a party going on. After the money disappeared so did her “friends”.
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