About us
DHARMA FUND
WHAT IS
Dharma?
Dharma is a spiritual concept central to the religions originating in South Asia, including Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism. It carries a range of meanings depending on context. In Hindu traditions, dharma can signify 'duty,' 'law,' 'ethics,' or the 'fundamental principle' that governs life. In Buddhism, it often refers to 'teaching,' 'reality,' or 'truth.' More broadly, dharma is understood as the natural order that upholds both society and the cosmos. It embodies the idea of universal duty and moral values, guiding human behavior toward virtue and harmony.
WHAT IS AN
Endowment Fund?
An endowment fund is a financial asset where donations are invested to generate ongoing income for a specific cause or organisation. By contributing to an endowment fund, your donation enters an investment portfolio that leverages financial markets to produce income, while the principal remains intact. Importantly, only the income generated from these investments is spent on charitable purposes, while the principal donation remains intact. This approach ensures that your gift not only has an immediate impact but effectively allows your contribution to keep giving for a lifetime. An endowment fund thus creates a sustainable financial foundation for a particular cause, ensuring that it can fulfill its mission and serve its causes for generations to come.
WHAT MAKES
Dharma Endowment Fund
DIFFERENT?
The Dharma Endowment Fund was established to address a critical shortfall in Dharmic philanthropy. Until now, there has been no centralized impact fund dedicated to supporting global Dharmic initiatives with proper governance, oversight, reporting, and impact measurement. Unfortunately, many similar programs have lacked the holistic perspective and structural integrity needed for lasting success. As a result, their impact has often been short-lived, despite good intentions, representing missed opportunities.
The Dharma Endowment Fund was created to solve these challenges, enabling donations to generate ongoing support for Dharmic initiatives while providing execution support and monitoring for sustained success.
Having an impact on a significant scale, beyond a single project, requires a measured strategic approach for which an endowment fund is ideally suited. Even more so when the team behind it has many decades of highly-relevant experience, is fully committed to its vision, and meticulous in its planning. Having assembled a team of this same calibre, we aim to establish a virtuous circle of capital appreciation and targeted disbursement which can operate in perpetuity.
IMPACT & SIGNIFICANCE
Kishan is a Portfolio Manager at a leading London-based fund. Having extensive knowledge of ESG, he has worked previously at the Bank of England and Aberdeen Asset Management. Kishan holds an honours degree in Investment Management from Cass Business School and is a CFA Charterholder.
KISHAN PAUN CFA
RISHI SINGH
Rishi Singh is a Portfolio Manager at global macro hedge Fund, having spent 7 years focusing on Global Emerging Markets. Previously, he worked at Morgan Stanley for 10 years and holds a first-class honours degree in Mathematics and Economics from the LSE.
MITESH SHETH MBE
Mitesh Sheth brings extensive experience in strategy, culture change, leadership. He has founded OrgAlpha - a strategy and leadership consultancy working with founders, CEOs and boards at moments of scale, transition and strategic reset. He holds a degree in Actuarial Science from the London School of Economics.
NITESH GOR OBE
Nitesh Gor is a co-founder and trustee of the Dharma Endowment Fund. He is a social entrepreneur, educator, and writer: Dharma Capitalism (Kogan Page), Before Religion (HarperCollins), The 5-minute Gita (Bloomsbury), The Soul of Education (Routledge). His experience includes CEO and director roles across the education, exploration, and investment banking industries. He founded Avanti Schools Trust and led the creation of the Dow Jones Dharma Indexes. His work on spirituality in education and business has inspired various projects, including The Vedanta retreat centre, and a brand of restaurant and well-being spaces. He has an MBA from London Business School and was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List of 2018 for services to education.
ROSHAN PATEL
Roshan Patel has been a Portfolio Manager at a US-based hedge fund since 2011. He previously worked at Morgan Stanley as an Executive Director in their Interest rates business., and graduated with a first-class honours degree in Mathematics from the University of Cambridge.
ATMA KRISHNA
Atma Krishna was the founder of LotusPay, a Y Combinator-backed fin-tech startup in India. His background includes strategic consulting at Greater Pacific Capital and McKinsey, coupled with experience in commodities trading and structuring at Barclays Capital. He holds degrees from the London School of Economics and the Indian School of Business.
AJAY PATHAK
Ajay is a Partner in the investment funds practice at leading international law firm, Goodwin, and serves as the Co-Chair of Goodwin's UK offices.
KISHAN PAUN CFA
Kishan is a Portfolio Manager at a leading London-based fund. Having extensive knowledge of ESG, he has worked previously at the Bank of England and Aberdeen Asset Management. Kishan holds an honours degree in Investment Management from Cass Business School and is a CFA Charterholder.
KHUSHI KHATRI
Khushi brings experience in strategy consulting, where she has worked with leading global organisations. As an entrepreneur, she founded a socially conscious business and has contributed to global public health through her work with the Clinton Health Access Initiative. Khushi holds a Master of Engineering from Imperial College London.
BHAVIT MEHTA
Bhavit is a content and events strategist specialising in culture, publishing, higher education, innovation and sustainability. He played a leading role in the Hindu Youth Festivals and directed the South Asian Literature Festival. His career spans organisations including the British Council, the Knowledge Quarter, Times Higher Education and the Commonwealth Foundation, driving engagement and impact.
NEHA PANKHANIA
Neha brings 8 years of experience in management consulting specialising in change management and training. She holds a degree in Mathematics with Finance and Management at King’s College London.
ELY PEARL BERSAMIN
Ely is a Research Consultant with 10+ years of experience in marketing, market research, and business support, specialising in lead generation, CRM management, data analysis, social media, and digital marketing.
The Dharma Endowment Fund is promoted, managed, and advised by leading industry experts, high net worth individuals, and top-performing investors, all actively involved in the core committees which form its central governance structure as outlined below.
CORE TEAM