The Basics

N.P. "Narv" Narvekar, CEO of Harvard Management Company, has begun discussions with the board about who will replace him — though no departure date is locked in, according to the Boston Globe. The Wall Street Journal first reported the story. Sources cited by Reuters put a possible exit date as late as late 2027.

Harvard Management Company declined to comment.

What He Built — and What He Didn't

Narvekar joined Harvard's investment arm in December 2016, taking over a fund worth $35.7 billion. By June 2024, it hit a record $56.9 billion — growth of over 50 percent.

The fund's expansion masks a deeper problem. Despite nearly a decade at the helm and a massive restructuring, Harvard's endowment ranks second-lowest in the Ivy League for 10-year annualized returns through June 2024, according to the Boston Globe. Its three-year return ranks fourth in the group. The fund got bigger — partly because markets went up, and partly because Harvard kept adding capital. On pure investment performance, Harvard ranks mid-tier at best among elite university peers.

Narvekar made big structural bets. He cut endowment staff, shifted heavily toward external managers, revamped compensation structures, and sold off billions in assets. Today, 41 percent of the fund sits in private equity and 31 percent in hedge funds, per the fund's most recent asset allocation report.

That's a concentrated, illiquid portfolio. If private equity hits a rough patch — and the 2025 rate environment isn't exactly friendly — Harvard has limited flexibility to pivot.

The Pay Picture

Harvard reported that Narvekar took home $6.2 million in 2024 — consistent with the prior two years. The top six earners at Harvard Management Company collectively pulled in more than $25 million in 2024.

This is a nonprofit institution paying its investment team Wall Street wages — and still ranking near the bottom of its peer group for long-term returns. Certainly, competing with sovereign wealth funds and hedge funds for top investment talent costs money, and university endowments across the board pay up. But if you're going to pay Wall Street compensation, you should deliver Wall Street results. Harvard hasn't.

Worst Timing Possible

Narvekar's potential departure comes at exactly the wrong moment for Harvard's leadership. The Trump administration has been aggressively targeting the university — attempting to freeze federal grants and successfully backing legislation raising the tax on net investment gains for the wealthiest private colleges to 8 percent, according to the Boston Globe.

That endowment tax hike directly hits Harvard's bottom line. A $56.9 billion fund generating meaningful returns now faces an 8 percent bite on those gains. This is a material cost, not a rounding error.

Harvard is simultaneously fighting a political war with Washington, looking for a new endowment chief, and managing a portfolio that is 72 percent locked up in private equity and hedge funds. The timing could not be worse.

What the Coverage Is Getting Wrong

Most mainstream outlets are framing this as a routine leadership transition — "succession planning," nothing to see here.

The real story is this: Harvard has the largest university endowment in the world and one of the most well-compensated investment teams in higher education. And it is still a chronic underperformer relative to its Ivy League peers over a decade-long horizon.

Narvekar inherited a mess — his predecessor's era produced its own controversies — and he stabilized the fund. But "we grew from $35.7B to $56.9B" is largely a story of bull markets and capital inflows, not exceptional alpha generation.

The Boston Globe and Bloomberg both reported the performance data. Neither made it the centerpiece of the story. That's where the focus should be.

Who Takes Over?

No successor has been named. No timeline is confirmed. The board is in early-stage discussions.

Finding someone willing to manage the world's largest university endowment — under Congressional scrutiny, an aggressive federal administration, a new 8 percent investment tax, and the microscope of every financial journalist in the country — for $6 million a year when hedge fund managers make multiples of that is a real recruitment challenge.

Harvard will get someone qualified. The question is whether they'll get someone exceptional. Given the current political climate around elite universities and the compensation ceiling that comes with the nonprofit label, the answer is far from guaranteed.

The Bottom Line

Harvard's endowment head is on his way out. The fund grew on his watch but underperformed peers. The timing is terrible. And taxpayers — who subsidize Harvard through tax-exempt status and federal research grants — deserve to know that the school pays its investment managers $25 million a year collectively while ranking near the bottom of the Ivy League for long-term returns.

If a private fund delivered those results at that cost, the clients would walk. Harvard's board should be asking hard questions — not just about who replaces Narvekar, but about what they're actually paying for.