Endowments, foundations, pension funds, private equity, venture capital, hedge funds: these terms are now commonplace as the world of institutional investing has become increasingly complex over the past hundred years. But how did it get this way? traces the development of institutional investing through the lens of one of the country's largest endowments, illustrating how tidal changes in the law, new approaches to governance, portfolio theory and continuing academic advances and studies, as well as incredible innovation in the practice of investment management, have all combined to create the highly sophisticated investing landscape of today.