📖David Swensen
Wait for the Right Opportunity
Wait for exceptional risk-reward opportunities.
The stock market is a no-called-strike game. You don't have to swing at every pitch. Wait for the fat pitch — the opportunity that offers exceptional risk-reward.
🏠 Everyday Analogy
📖 Core Interpretation
David Swensen treats survival as the first objective. Limiting permanent capital loss, controlling leverage, and avoiding single-point failure are prerequisites for long-term compounding.
💎 Key Insight：Selectivity dramatically improves investment outcomes.
AI Deep Analysis
Get personalized insights and practical guidance through AI conversation
❓ Why It Matters
A single large drawdown can erase years of progress. Risk control is not timidity; it is the operating system that keeps compounding alive.
🎯 How to Practice
Define downside scenarios before entry, cap position size, avoid fragile leverage, and maintain liquidity so mistakes remain survivable.
⚠️ Common Pitfalls
Equating volatility with all forms of risk
Oversized positions without an exit plan
Using leverage to compensate for uncertainty
📚 Case Studies
1
Dot‑Com Bust and Diversified Equity Exposure (2000)
Tech and growth stocks collapsed after the late‑1990s bubble, while broad value, international, and small‑cap exposures fared better.
✨ Outcome：Avoided concentrated tech bets, kept diversified long‑term allocations, and benefited as non‑bubble equities and later markets recovered.
2
Dot-Com Bubble Peak (2000)
Swensen’s Yale endowment policy rebalanced away from soaring U.S. growth stocks into underweighted bonds, real assets, and diversifiers as tech valuations became extreme.
✨ Outcome：Reduced drawdowns in 2000–2002 bear market and preserved capital to buy equities at cheaper prices.
See how masters handle real scenarios?
30 real investment dilemmas answered by legendary investors
Explore Scenarios →