Who is Nirmal Narvekar? Indian-American financier behind Harvard's $57 billion endowment set to retire
Narvekar’s departure comes at a time when Harvard's $57 billion kitty — the largest university fund in the word, three times the size of India's central education budget — faces pressure from President Donald Trump.
INDIAN-American financier Nirmal Narvekar, who spent a decade reshaping Harvard University’s $56.9 billion endowment, is set to retire in 2027.
According to a report in Bloomberg, Narvekar has begun discussions about departing from the investment fund.
Narvekar, or ‘Narv’ as he is popularly known in Wall Street and Ivy League circles, initiated talks this year with the board of Harvard Management Co., which runs the endowment, about who would succeed him. However, no date has been determined, the news agency reported citing people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified when discussing private conversations. The talks were part of succession planning.
Narvekar’s departure comes at a time when Harvard's $57 billion kitty — the largest university fund in the word, three times the size of India's central education budget — faces pressure from President Donald Trump. The Trump administration has tried to freeze federal grants at Harvard and other prominent schools, backing a law that raised the tax on net investment gains for some of the wealthiest private colleges to 8%.
Who is Nirmal Narvekar?
When Narvekar joined Harvard's endowment in December 2016, Harvard's investment arm had become notorious for dysfunction and weak returns. ‘Narv’ overhauled it through the years. He changed the investment team’s compensation, sold billions in assets and boosted allocations to private equity.
At Harvard, Narvekar cut endowment staff and shifted toward external managers. The fund grew more than 50% during his tenure, jumping from a $35.7 billion valuation in 2016 to a record $56.9 billion in June 2025, the most recent public value.
The endowment had 41% of its assets invested in private equity, with another 31% in hedge funds as of the end of the last fiscal year, according to a report detailing its asset allocation.
Before joining Harvard in 2016, Narvekar led Columbia University’s endowment and worked at the University of Pennsylvania Investment Office. He was also managing director for equity derivatives at JPMorgan Chase & Co.
Harvard reported that Narvekar was compensated $6.2 million in 2024, in line with the previous two years. The top six earners at Harvard Management Co. received more than $25 million in compensation in 2024.
