Yale has moved out of the pancake business.
A report the University filed Nov. 13 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission says Yale no longer holds 13 of the 24 securities it held in June, including $2.63 million worth of shares in the International House of Pancakes, and picked up six new ones. The value of Yale’s investments has increased by more than $10 million dollars from June to August.
While the majority of Yale’s investments are controlled by external managers and are not listed, the report can give some indication of the University’s general investment strategy.
The number of securities Yale holds in its own name decreased from 24 to 17 between June and September, continuing a recent trend. The University held 76 securities in its own name in September 2000.
Eight of the securities sold had only been listed on the University’s last prior 13-F filing on Aug. 14. Four of the securities — Forest City Enterprises, Inc.; Hilton Hotels; IHOP and Rayonier Inc. — had been held for more than a year. Forest City, a real-estate-management firm, had been held more than five years.
While the number of securities decreased, the actual value of Yale’s investments in its own name increased by more than $10 million between June and August, from $305,781,000 to $316,061,000. Among the University’s top five listed investments in terms of value, only one, Morgan Stanley, decreased in worth. The others, Acadia Realty Trust, Standard and Poor’s Depository Receipts Trust, Morgan Stanley Asia Pacific Fund and Felcor Lodging Trust, all gained at least 17 percent.
The 13-F report is a form University Chief Investment Officer David Swensen is required to file quarterly because the University holds more than $100 million worth of securities in its own name. At best, the 13-F report only gives a glimpse of the University’s investment strategy. Most of the securities listed are to be transferred between managers, were gifts to the University or must be held in Yale’s name for legal reasons. The report also indicates only the securities held on the day of filing.
This mandatory filing is one of the only ways outsiders can get an indication of the University’s investment strategy.
Yale lists six new stocks on its November filing, many of which follow previous patterns of investment.
The University now owns $1,558,000 worth of shares in Amdocs Ltd., which produces operations-support software for telecommunications companies. Alliance Data Systems, Inc., of which Yale now owns $1,901,000 worth of shares, provides private-label retail and gas credit-card services.
The report shows the University owns $243,000 worth of shares in American International Group Inc. The company, perhaps better known to students by its acronym AIG, is the largest commercial and industrial underwriter in the United States and a top carrier of life insurance.
There are also two internet-based companies listed in the report. The University owns $1,129,000 worth of shares in the internet search engine Ask Jeeves, Inc. The report also lists $648,000 worth of shares in Digital Impact, Inc., an e-mail direct-marketing company whose clients include Citibank and Hewlett-Packard.
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