Harvard endowment chief N.P. Narvekar plans retirement after decade-long tenure
Investing.com — N.P. “Narv” Narvekar, the chief executive officer of Harvard University’s $56.9 billion endowment, has notified the board of his plans to retire after nearly a decade in the role, according to an exclusive Wall Street Journal report citing people familiar with the matter.
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Narvekar has not finalized a definitive departure date but has discussed a potential retirement timeline for late 2027 to allow ample time for succession planning. A formal search process for his successor has not yet commenced, and Narvekar declined to comment on the matter.
Hired in 2016 from Columbia University’s investment office to stabilize Harvard Management Co., becoming its fourth CEO within ten years, Narvekar inherited a $35.7 billion fund suffering from structural performance lags.
Under his leadership, the endowment underwent a comprehensive operational restructuring, shifting from a model where 40% of assets were managed by specialized internal teams to an agile generalist framework where roughly 90% of the portfolio is managed by external asset managers.
The structural overhaul successfully lifted Harvard’s performance metrics relative to its Ivy League competitors.
Over the past three years, the endowment delivered an 8.1% annualized return, outpacing rivals Yale and Princeton and ranking tied for fourth among 12 elite academic institutions, according to data from financial technology firm Markov Processes International.
The performance marks a substantial reversal from 2016, when Harvard posted a 10-year annualized gain of just 5.7% following steep losses during the 2008–2009 financial crisis.
To drive the turnaround, Narvekar aggressively liquidated underperforming illiquid assets at a discount while doubling the endowment’s allocation to private equity and venture capital.
He also more than doubled the fund’s exposure to hedge funds, which insulated the portfolio and drove outperformance in 2024.
The strategy enhanced Harvard’s institutional standing, securing lucrative allocations with premier managers like Citadel and the D.E. Shaw Group, alongside direct stakes in high-growth companies such as Stripe and SpaceX.
The endowment remains Harvard’s primary fiscal anchor, generating over one-third of the university’s $6.7 billion operating budget last year and providing a crucial buffer against federal research funding cuts implemented by the Trump administration.
