# Simran Foundation Simran Foundation is an Endowment / Foundation based in Naples, United States. ## Overview - **Organization type:** Endowment / Foundation - **Headquarters:** Naples, United States - **Region:** North America - **Address:** Naples, FL, United States - **Assets under management:** Undisclosed - **Website:** https://simranfoundation.org - **LinkedIn:** https://linkedin.com/company/simran-foundation ## Regulatory record - **Reports private funds:** No ## About The Simran Foundation operates as a private family foundation, co-founded and led by Raj Bhatia alongside family members Seema and Ariana Bhatia. While legally domiciled in Chicago, the foundation's operational center of gravity sits in Naples, Florida, reflecting the family's personal relocation and a growing trend among Midwestern family offices to establish a Southeastern presence. The Bhattias built their capital base through multi-decade careers at Merrill Lynch, where Raj serves as a Managing Director and Ariana as a Private Wealth Manager, giving the foundation's investment stewardship a direct line into institutional-grade portfolio management. Grantmaking concentrates on health and education, with the foundation acting as a major donor to Arogya World, a non-profit focused on non-communicable disease prevention in India. Raj Bhatia also sits on the Chicago regional board of the American India Foundation, a platform that shapes a portion of the foundation's philanthropic pipeline and provides co-donor connectivity. Additional known philanthropic alliances include joint giving with Manjit and Srila Singh — the former CEO of Sony India and his spouse — on initiatives tied to the Center for the Art of Performance at UCLA. The foundation does not publicly disclose a deployment target or asset allocation, and no direct investments, fund commitments, or program-related investments have been surfaced in regulatory filings or public announcements. The foundation's staffing remains below public-filing thresholds, with the three named Bhatia family principals forming the core governance layer. It maintains no known investment committee populated by external fiduciaries and has not registered as a 501(c)3 operating foundation, which limits forward-looking visibility into team growth or succession planning. The family holds a residential property on Girard Terrace in Naples listed among its related assets, and the foundation's investment portfolio is understood to be managed out of the Merrill Lynch private-wealth ecosystem in which the principals are embedded. Structurally, the Simran Foundation functions as a tightly held donor-advised vehicle rather than a professionalized endowment, making its governance architecture inseparable from the Bhatia family's personal balance sheet and professional Merrill Lynch relationships. This configuration limits the number of independent touchpoints available to outside co-investors or grant-seekers, but it yields exceptionally high decision velocity for the causes the family chooses to back. The foundation's long-term posture will be defined by whether the next generation transitions toward direct program management or maintains the current model of donor-advised giving through known non-profit partners. ## Sectors - Philanthropy ## Offices - Chicago, IL, United States ## People - Raj Bhatia — President - Seema Bhatia — Co-founder, President/Secretary - Ariana Bhatia — Director ## Questions ### Who controls grantmaking decisions at the Simran Foundation? Raj Bhatia, as President, makes primary grantmaking decisions, with Seema and Ariana Bhatia serving as co-founding officers. The three principals form the core governance group, and no external advisory board or investment committee has been identified in public records. The foundation's structure places final authority over both grant selection and investment stewardship within the founding family. ### How is the Simran Foundation's investment portfolio managed? The foundation's portfolio is managed within the Merrill Lynch private-wealth ecosystem, where Raj Bhatia serves as a Managing Director and Ariana Bhatia works as a Private Wealth Manager. This structure gives the foundation direct access to institutional-grade asset management without an external CIO or outsourced-OCIO mandate. The portfolio's composition, total AUM, and performance are not publicly disclosed. ### What is the connection between the Simran Foundation and Arogya World? The Simran Foundation is listed as a major donor and partner to Arogya World, a non-profit focused on preventing non-communicable diseases in India. This represents one of the foundation's most visible philanthropic commitments, alongside its involvement with the American India Foundation, where Raj Bhatia serves on the Chicago regional board. No grant amounts or multi-year pledge structures have been disclosed. ### Is the Simran Foundation structured as a 501(c)3 public charity or a private foundation? The Simran Foundation operates as a private foundation rather than a public charity, based on its tight family governance and limited donor base. It has not registered as an operating foundation, meaning it primarily makes grants to external organizations rather than running its own direct charitable programs. Its IRS Form 990 filings, if any, are not publicly surfaced through the foundation's known channels. ## Related profiles - [Simmons University Endowment](https://altss.com/profile/simmons-university-endowment) - [Sinar Mas](https://altss.com/profile/sinar-mas) --- Last updated: 2026-06-03T20:00:00.000Z Canonical page: https://altss.com/profile/simran-foundation Maintained by Altss — https://altss.com — methodology: https://altss.com/methodology