“Nirupa brings consistently high levels of energy and integrity to her work running multiple strategies within the active public markets team. Her cross-asset experience, data-driven approach and commitment to collaboration and inclusivity have benefited both her portfolios and the broader organization. Her performance focus, combined with dedication to continuous learning and ingenuity, will support her success in her current role and path toward senior leadership in asset allocation and management.”
—Aaron Bennett, CIO, University Pension Plan
The CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER Editorial Team shared a dozen questions with all our NextGen nominees and asked them each to pick six to answer. Their answers informed our decision to include them as a NextGen. Below are Nirupa Muthurajah’s answers.
CIO: What is the best way to bring more diversity to the financial industry?
Muthurajah: As a person-of-color female in finance, diversity in the workplace is extremely important to me. Representation matters and requires deliberate inclusion at every stage, from hiring to professional growth. Increasing diversity is a multifaceted approach, starting with inclusive recruitment, such as blind resume screening and training hiring teams to recognize unconscious bias to ensure a candidate pool reflects a broad range of backgrounds. Equally important is the retention and advancement of diverse talent, which can be supported through targeted mentorship programs. Building an inclusive culture requires ongoing education around unconscious bias at all levels of the organization. Ultimately, leadership must be held accountable by linking diversity, equity and inclusion metrics to performance evaluations and compensation. These steps help create a workplace where everyone has an equitable opportunity to succeed.
CIO: How can allocators address the growing global headwinds of demographics, geopolitical tensions, trade wars and changing supply chains?
Muthurajah: To address global headwinds like shifting demographics, geopolitical tensions, trade wars and supply chain disruptions, I go back to the foundational principle of diversification. Allocators should ensure exposure across a broad set of asset classes and geographies, emphasizing strategies that are both complementary and resilient. It’s especially important to account for factor risks—liquidity being one of the most critical, as it tends to revert rapidly during exogenous shocks. Building structurally sound portfolios with a focus on adaptability can help institutions weather macro uncertainty while preserving long-term objectives.
CIO: Which component of ESG-driven investing do you think will have the most influence on institutional investing going forward, and why?
Muthurajah: ESG is a vital framework for investing, and while the emphasis on each component can vary by context, governance (“G”) has long been a cornerstone for institutional investors, promoting transparency, accountability and long-term value. However, with mounting global environmental challenges, the environmental (“E”) pillar is becoming increasingly urgent. Our actions today will shape the sustainability of both our planet and financial systems for decades to come. Addressing climate risk is no longer just a moral obligation, it’s a financial necessity. Institutional investors, as providers of long-term capital, are uniquely positioned to lead in this area and align their strategies with the structural tailwinds driving a more sustainable future.
CIO: What traditional and/or alternative asset classes do you think are most important for institutional portfolios, and why?
Muthurajah: Maybe I’m biased, given my current role, but having worked across a wide range of strategies in both private and public markets, I consistently view public equity as a structural necessity in institutional portfolios. Public equities offer the liquidity that institutions need to meet short-term obligations, while delivering returns that typically exceed those of cash or other low-yielding alternatives. In a diversified portfolio, they serve as a reliable source of growth and flexibility. Despite the rise of alternative assets, public equities remain a foundational component, both for managing liquidity and as a low-cost option for generating long-term value.
CIO: What should be an investment trend, but isn’t (yet)?
Muthurajah: While climate strategies are still emerging, the focus to date has largely been on climate mitigation, such as renewable energy or carbon reduction. However, a trend that deserves far more attention is climate adaptation. These strategies recognize that, given the time it will take to implement broad mitigation solutions, we must also invest in adapting to the realities we face today. That includes innovations like more efficient building materials, low-energy cooling systems for hotter climates and technologies that support water management in drought-prone regions. Despite being essential for long-term resilience, adaptation remains significantly underfollowed in investment circles. For institutional investors seeking long-duration, impact-oriented opportunities, this area is both timely and structurally aligned with future economic and societal needs.
CIO: What new skills do you think allocators or institutional investment teams need to be leaders in the field in the coming decade?
Muthurajah: I believe that leading skills for the next decade will be data fluency and AI adoption. As data become faster to collect, more accessible and increasingly reliable, the traditional informational edge will become more fleeting and less obvious. Technological fluency, particularly in AI and data analytics, will be critical for improving decisionmaking, optimizing processes and driving efficiency. Allocators who can harness these tools effectively will be better positioned to navigate complexity, respond quickly to market shifts and sustain a long-term performance edge.
