In his letter, Meyer addressed concerns overpast performance by defending the record he hasbuilt in three years at the University.

The HMC president wrote that returns in the twofull fiscal years he has led the company haveaveraged 14.2 percent, outperforming the company'sbenchmarks by an average 2.7 percent annually, andtranslating into an additional $300 million forthe University.

Meyer noted that this year's returns wererepresentative of strong performance in almost allasset classes.

Harvard's domestic stock portfolio, whichcurrently accounts for about 36 percent of theUniversity's investments, returned just over 20percent for the year.

The University's roughly 20 percent stake inforeign equities returned 16.5 percent.

And, while not all observers greeted theresults with quite the same enthusiasm--onealumnus said the higher returns mean little exceptthat "Meyer has bought himself a little moretime"--most were content.

"You've got to feel better about things," saidlongtime HMC critic Albert F. Gordon '59, adding,however, that he believes Harvard should be moreforthcoming about its specific investments.

University Treasurer D. Ronald Daniel said theresults come at a good time--just as Harvardprepares to embark officially on a $2 billionfundraising drive. "You can't deny that [thetiming is good,]" Daniel said. "I'm delighted."

But the treasurer said even good results have adownside when it comes to fundraising.

"The dilemma is, if any university performsexceedingly well close to a [capital] campaign,you kind of wonder why they need they money," hesaid. "And if they do exceedingly poorly, youwonder why you should give them the money if theycan't manage it. You're sort of damned if you doand damned if you don't.