As the endowment grew from $10.7 billion then to the $22.6 billion behemoth it currently is, HMC’s usage of external management increased to 50 percent.
HMC’s success in what Meyer likes to call “adding value” has been remarkable.
Even through difficult times in the market, Harvard’s performance has consistently exceeded the performance of the average fund and even Harvard’s policy portfolio, a hypothetical portfolio that Meyer has formulated as a benchmark to measure how well the actual Harvard portfolio has performed.
Jeffrey B. Larson, the former manager of foreign equities at HMC, hails Meyer as a capable manager.
“There is no doubt in my mind that Jack is one of the most straightforward and honest guys I’ve ever met,” Larson says.
—Staff writer Alexander H. Greeley can be reached at agreeley@fas.harvard.edu.