Harvard Endowment’s $57 Billion Manager N.P. Narvekar to Retire in 2027

N.P. “Narv” Narvekar, the chief executive who overhauled Harvard University’s $56.9 billion endowment and restored its performance to the top of the Ivy League, plans to retire in late 2027. His departure after nearly a decade will cap a tenure marked by a radical strategic shift for the world’s largest university fund.

Narvekar’s planned retirement was recently communicated to the Harvard Management Co. (HMC) board to provide ample time for a succession plan, according to people familiar with the discussions. People familiar with the endowment said Narvekar has vastly improved Harvard’s standing within the investment community, resulting in attractive opportunities with managers including the D.E. Shaw Group and Citadel.

Under Narvekar, the endowment earned an 8.1% annualized return over the last three years, a rate that topped rivals Yale and Princeton. This represents a significant turnaround from the 5.7% 10-year annualized gain posted in 2016, the year he arrived from Columbia University’s endowment.

The succession timeline puts a long runway on a critical leadership transition for Harvard, where income from the endowment provides more than one-third of the university’s $6.7 billion in annual operating revenue. A change in leadership could signal a strategic review for an institution that has become a coveted and steady client for top-tier fund managers.

A Shift From Internal Management to External Experts

When Narvekar was hired in 2016, he was the fourth CEO in a decade at HMC, which was struggling with underperformance and a bloated internal structure. At the time, the then-$35.7 billion endowment managed 40% of its assets internally, with specialized teams acting like a giant, multi-strategy investment firm.

Narvekar dismantled this model. Today, roughly 90% of the endowment is managed externally by carefully selected fund managers. He implemented a generalist investment model for the remaining internal staff, with compensation tied to the endowment’s overall performance rather than individual team results. This involved selling off illiquid investments, sometimes at a discount, which acted as a drag on returns in the early years of his tenure.

Doubling Down on Private Equity and Hedge Funds

A key part of Narvekar's strategy was to correct Harvard’s underweight position in private markets. He doubled the size of the private-equity portfolio, which includes venture capital, an area where Harvard had lagged peers. This led to access to high-profile investments such as fintech company Stripe and SpaceX.

He also more than doubled the endowment's allocation to hedge funds. This move was credited with helping Harvard outperform almost all of its peers in 2024, according to financial technology company Markov Processes International. In a 2025 interview, Narvekar cited both private equity and hedge funds as major contributors to the endowment's improved performance.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.