The new market portfolio- easily add some previously unavailable asset classes

Harvard and Yale have realized successfully that the actual market is much more than just the S&P 500. Utilizing hedge funds, private equity, managed timber, absolute return funds, commodities and derivatives they have allowed their school's endowment to fund nearly their entire budget with only 4-5% of the total endowment yearly.

Above is a list from Smart Money how you too can easily better diversify your portfolio to mirror this incredibly successful strategy. While some options are not available to the everyday investor and these institutions are non profits and therefore tax exempt, Chismillionare feels several of these plays should be in every portfolio- managed timber is particularly wise being an inflation hedge and a renewable resource!!!!
The old domestic, international, and emerging market equities combined with some fixed income and REITS are woefully inadequate to earn the true market return. This approach will also buffer market downturns better.

Link to the full story here