Japan's universities bit hard by global bear

Japan's universities bit hard by global bear

While the US-UK investment bubbles were still percolating, many Japanese universities envied the way American universities invested their endowments in order to gain high returns. So some jumped into the heady world of financial investing and speculation, only to find that 1) it's not as easy as it looks and 2) they bet on a continued bull when the global bear markets emerged with a vengeance.


See these stories:

1.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=a3wib3nkyJGg

Japan’s Colleges Had 69 Billion Yen Paper Losses, Yomiuri Says


excerpt:
Dec. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Japan’s market turmoil led to 68.8 billion yen ($770 million) in unrealized investment losses at 18 private universities as of March 31 and the amount since then is probably much more, the Yomiuri newspaper reported.

2.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601101&sid=atSpk1doeHCc

Japan University Official Fired After Swap Losses, Asahi Says


excerpt:
Dec. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Japan’s Komazawa University fired a director yesterday after the institution reported a 15.4 billion yen ($172 million) loss from currency-swap trading, the Asahi newspaper reported, without saying where it got the information.


3.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&sid=a_QBl64pCX04&refer=asia

Japan's `Ivy League' Schools Latest Victims of Financial Rout


excerpt:
Nov. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Japan's top universities are falling victim to the global financial crisis that has caused $964.6 billion in writedowns and losses at financial institutions.