© 2026 New Hampshire Public Radio

Persons with disabilities who need assistance accessing NHPR's FCC public files, please contact us at publicfile@nhpr.org.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Own a business? Expand your reach and grow your audience by becoming an underwriter on NHPR.

David Swensen's 'Unconventional Success'

David Swensen has outperformed 99 percent of U.S. mutual funds since 1985. As Yale's chief investment officer, Swensen manages the school's $15 billion endowment. Now he has a new book, Unconventional Success.

In it, Swensen takes aim at one of the most engrained institutions in modern America: the mutual fund industry.

Despite their huge growth in controlled assets in the past 20 years, mutual funds -- most of which are meant to create profits for their managers -- fail everyday investors, Swensen says.

Two of the biggest factors in his displeasure are high management fees and funds' habits of turning over their holdings.

Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Related Content

You make NHPR possible.

NHPR is nonprofit and independent. We rely on readers like you to support the local, national, and international coverage on this website. Your support makes this news available to everyone.

Give today. A monthly donation of $5 makes a real difference.