I strongly recommend "Unconventional Success" by David Swensen (http://www.amazon.com/Unconventional-Success-Fundamental-App...).
The book reads a lot like a text book, but everything he sais just seems to make sense. The man is CIO at Yale university. SO he should know what he is talking about.
From the article, it sounds like 'fiscal 2009' must've encompassed late 2008/early 2009, in which case 30% losses would not be abnormal. Otherwise this line sounds a bit odd:
At the end of fiscal 2008, Yale continued to turn in the best 10-year performance with an average annualized gain of 16.3 percent, which was followed by Harvard with 13.8 percent.
