I am a risk manager first, and a profit maker second. I tend not to trust solutions that are "magic bullets" unless there is some barrier to entry — why can you do it, and few others can? Knowledge travels.
So, regarding the "endowment model" of investing, I have been partly a believer, and partly a skeptic. A believer, because endowments do have the ability to invest for the long-term, and not everyone else does. A skeptic, because many endowments were taking on too much illiquidity.
Liquidity is an underrated factor for investors who have charge over portfolios that have a long-term stable funding base. I had that advantage once, as the main investment manager for an insurer the had a large portfolio of structured settlements. In insurance liabilities, nothing is longer than a portfolio of structured settlements.
Buy long-dated debt? Illiquid debt? If the pricing is right, sure; you should have to pay to rent the strength of a strong balance sheet, where the funding is intact. WHen managing that company's portfolio I didn't have to worry about a run on the portfolio, because I kept more than enough liquid assets to satisfy the demands of policyholders should they decide to surrender.
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