Mutual Funds Monthly: Yale Manager Blasts Industry

Anyone catch the article "Mutual Funds Monthly: Yale Manager Blasts Industry" in the Wall Street Journal on September 6?

Mr. [David] Swensen's fame comes from his oversight of Yale University's
$15 billion endowment fund, which, since he was hired 20 years ago, has returned
an average of 16% a year, far outpacing the market and other funds run for
universities.

[...]

So while Yale relies on actively managed portfolios, Mr.
Swensen says individuals should just stick to index funds, especially those run
by not-for-profit companies.

Sounds like Dr. Meir Statman, SCU's often-quoted index fund promoter, and Mr. Swensen would get along fine with regards to advice for individual investors. Mr. Swensen has some interesting twists in advice apart from the usual advice from those who promote index funds. He doesn't like the Russell 2000 and promotes more international exposure than is usually advised.

Check out the full text of the article--I assume as an MBA student or graduate you have access to WSJ.com. Since the article is copyrighted, I'd rather not post the complete article.

MBA Not Too Impressive to CIOs

Apparently my MBA degree won't impress many CIOs, at least the ones surveyed by Robert Half Technology. A survey of 1,400 CIOs found that only 1% of CIOs would consider an MBA to be the extra edge to pick a candidate between two candidates with similar skills. Instead, industry-specific experience was sited as the most important differentiator.

So the lesson for me here is to not expect my MBA degree to carry a huge amount of weight when applying for IT management positions. I'll have to make sure that my whole package is competitive.

I have no regrets about getting an MBA. Even if CIOs don't think it's a key differentiator, I'm sure that the knowledge and contacts I've gained from the MBA program will help me to perform my current and future jobs better, which in turn will lead to more opportunities.

For an article about the survey, see Industry insiders have the edge

"Seven Guitars" by Playwright August Wilson at SCU

Seven Guitars will be playing at Santa Clara University's Louis B. Mayer Theater on September 16, 18, 22-24, 2005. After seeing August Wilson's The Piano Lesson at the San Jose Repertory Theatre, I knew I wanted to see more plays by this playwright. So I'm looking forward to seeing this production at SCU.

For showtime and ticket information, see SCU's Special Events page.

Here's a podcast interview with the SCU producers, including a story about August Wilson delivering his own piano lesson at a late night afterparty.

Brief biography of August Wilson.