When David Swensen’s Yale Model—a model that invests heavily in alternative or non-liquid investments—was first revealed in 2000[1], it caused quite a stir in institutional investment. In the first 20 years of his tenure (1985-2005) as Yale’s endowment manager, Swensen managed to top the S&P 500’s 12.3 percent annualised return by a further 3.8 percent, breezing through stock market downturns that decimated other institutions. Mainstreaming Alternative Investment Instruments Many of Swensen’s contemporaries, and more than...