Harvard, Yale, Stanford make big bets on exchange traded funds

New York

THE most active bets among the largest US college endowments in the first quarter were exchange traded funds (ETFs), underscoring a move toward cheap and passive investment strategies.

Four of the five largest public purchases were ETFs, accounting for over US$1.2 billion traded, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The biggest bet was on iShares iBoxx High Yield Corporate Bond ETF, with Harvard University's endowment leading…