Nitin Kumbhani to get Presidential Honorary Degree from West Virginia University

Leading Indian American software development executive pioneered ATM software in collaboration with more than 100 major banks globally

By Arun Kumar

West Virginia University will present a Presidential Honorary Degree to Nitin “Nick” Kumbhani, a leading Indian American executive in software development and investment management, during Commencement ceremonies on Dec 21, at the Coliseum.

A proud WVU graduate originally from Mumbai, India, Kumbhani credits WVU with providing critical scholarship support to help him finish his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering in 1971, according to a university press release. Through connections made at the University, he was recruited to develop software for ATMs and other banking systems.

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Kumbhani’s first company, Source Data Systems, pioneered ATM software in collaboration with more than 100 major banks nationally and globally. SDS was later acquired by a Fortune 500 company.

In 1987, he founded the company that would become Apex Capital Management to follow his second passion — investment management, and pioneered the small- and mid-cap investment category in the US.

His philosophy was a combination of Established and Emerging Growth companies with bottom up qualitative and fundamental analysis approach which focused on Thematic Investing validated by market trends.

His company started out with less than $1 million under management but it grew to around $100 million mostly through word of mouth by 2000. This resulted in the best record of accomplishment among peer groups in the Large Cap growth Equity. Kumbhani pioneered a whole new category called SMID (Small/Mid Cap) in the USA and went after the institutional client platforms serving many of the largest pension funds in the country.

By early 2016 the company exceeded over $7 billion in Assets Under Management and 22 employees. Kumbhani had distributed 31% of the company shares to employees.

Kumbhani also founded a Stock Brokerage house in Chennai, India in 1995, grew it to 39 employees and 21 satellite brokers and sold it to one of the largest institutional banks (ICICI) in 2001.

In 2023, Kumbhani was inducted into the Statler College Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering Distinguished Alumni Academy.

Kumbhani started in 1968 as a freshman in Engineering at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey after finishing high school focused on Advanced Math, Science and English in Mumbai, India.