Every investment journey begins with a question, but a successful career is shaped by a commitment to continuous discovery. The ability to look beyond the numbers and understand the forces that drive long-term value is what sets exceptional investors apart. For some, a career begins with a carefully planned destination.
For Priyal Maniar, it began with curiosity. Currently, she serves as an investment analyst at T. Rowe Price, and co-portfolio manager of T. Rowe Price Natural Resources ETF (TURF), where her prudent insights have helped navigate one of the most vibrant and unpredictable sectors in the financial markets — energy. Her journey began in India, where conversations about the stock market were a regular part of family life. Following the example of her grandfather, who spent his retirement analyzing companies and investing with a long-term perspective, Priyal learned an important lesson at a young age. Every share represents a real business built by people and driven by the creation of long-term value.
A conversation with the chief executive officer of an energy firm early in her career transformed a budding interest in energy into a passion for the industry. It was not just the business of energy that fascinated her; it was also the strategy behind the business. She was also drawn to the scientific and geopolitical aspects of energy that influence supply, demand, and infrastructure of the industry. Since then, Priyal has built her career by analyzing companies through rigorous financial research.
Leadership Rooted in Experience
Priyal’s perspective on energy was shaped by her experiences in both India and the United States. Growing up in India before relocating to the United States gave her a firsthand understanding of how access to reliable electricity differs across regions. In the United States, consistent power and air conditioning are often taken for granted. In many parts of India and elsewhere in the world, however, reliable electricity can significantly influence daily life, economic opportunity, and overall quality of living.
Priyal’s personal experiences taught her that energy is more than a commodity — it is a foundation for economic development and improved living standards. By analyzing companies across different market cycles and engaging closely with management teams, Priyal has shaped her investment philosophy. She believes that lasting success is rarely the result of a single exceptional investment decision. Instead, it comes from developing and using a disciplined decision-making process rooted in intellectual honesty, consistent application, and a commitment to continuous learning.
These principles guide both her investment approach and her leadership style. Long-term investing requires making decisions with incomplete information, questioning assumptions, and remaining calm during periods of market uncertainty. Priyal realizes that leadership is not about having every answer. She believes it is about creating an environment where rigorous thinking, open discussion, and honest debate lead to better decisions.
Navigating Uncertainty with Clarity
When asked how she navigates uncertainty, Priyal explains that investing teaches this lesson better than almost any other profession. She understands that no one can predict the future with complete accuracy and that the real objective is to make the best possible decision with the information available at the time.
Her approach begins by identifying the long-term factors that truly drive a business and separating them from short-term market noise. Instead of seeking complete certainty, she evaluates different outcomes and assigns probabilities to each. She also tests her thinking by actively considering opposing viewpoints. In her view, strong decisions come from questioning assumptions rather than confirming them. Priyal believes that effective investors and leaders remain decisive while staying open to new information. They are willing to adapt their decisions when the evidence changes.
Integrity in Leadership
Priyal believes there is no single approach to effective leadership. Different people and different situations require different styles. She has consistently found that people deliver their best work when they have genuine ownership of their ideas and decisions.
Three principles guide her leadership. The first is integrity, which forms the foundation of honest analysis and transparent communication. The second is intellectual curiosity and a commitment to continuous learning, especially in an industry that is constantly evolving. The third is respect, which she considers essential for productive discussions. In her view, healthy debate and even disagreement can lead to better decisions when people trust one another and feel that their perspectives are valued.
Emotional intelligence connects all three principles. While investors spend significant time analyzing financial statements and business models, Priyal recognizes that every business is ultimately led by people. Whether she is meeting with a chief executive officer, collaborating with colleagues, or evaluating a management team’s capital allocation decisions, she focuses on understanding what motivates people, how they respond under pressure, and what influences their decisions.
For Priyal, these human insights are often just as valuable as financial analysis. She views emotional intelligence as key to creating an environment where people feel comfortable challenging ideas, sharing different perspectives, and changing their views when new evidence emerges. In her experience, intellectual rigor and psychological safety work together to produce better decisions.
Purpose-Driven Resilience
Given its inherent volatility, the energy sector demands resilience of investors like few others. Throughout her career, Priyal has witnessed major market disruptions, including oil prices briefly turning negative during the COVID-19 pandemic. She has also seen supply shocks and geopolitical conflicts drive prices to unexpected levels. These experiences have shown her how quickly market sentiment can change and how costly emotional decision-making can be.
During periods of market volatility, she returns to the fundamentals of her disciplined process. She reviews the facts, reassesses her assumptions, separates meaningful changes from short-term market noise, and focuses on the factors that can be carefully analyzed and managed. While market prices will always fluctuate, she believes a sound investment process should remain consistent.
A strong sense of purpose also strengthens her approach. Priyal recognizes that investment professionals are entrusted with their clients’ capital, and she keeps that responsibility at the center of every decision. Every research activity and every discussion is framed with a focus on helping clients achieve their long-term financial goals. This perspective keeps her and her colleagues motivated. It also reflects her view that some of the best investment opportunities emerge during periods of uncertainty, rewarding investors who demonstrate patience, discipline, and independent thinking.
Humility in Leadership
Not every lesson in Priyal’s career came from success. One of the first companies she covered eventually filed for bankruptcy. Although the investment resulted in losses, she considers the experience one of the most valuable lessons of her career. As the company’s financial condition weakened, new information emerged and accounting concerns became evident. Priyal recognized that her original investment thesis was no longer valid and exited the position.
The experience taught her that successful investing is not about being right every time. It is about having the intellectual honesty to recognize when facts have changed and the fortitude to act without hesitation. She also learned that one of the greatest risks in investing is confusing conviction with certainty. While conviction is important, humility is equally essential, as markets don’t reward stubbornness.
This experience continues to shape both Priyal’s investment philosophy and her leadership approach. She encourages her colleagues to question assumptions, welcome different perspectives, and avoid becoming attached to an idea simply because it is their own. In her view, the best decisions come from following the evidence wherever it leads, even when the conclusions are difficult to accept.
Cultivating Future Leaders
As artificial intelligence makes information more accessible, Priyal believes continuous learning will become an even greater competitive advantage. The energy sector today is shaped by geopolitics, technology, engineering, public policy, and capital markets. Keeping pace with these changes requires curiosity that goes beyond traditional financial analysis.
Priyal regularly engages with energy company management teams, engineers, industry experts, policymakers, and customers to deepen her understanding of the sector. She also challenges her own assumptions and views the willingness to change her mind in response to new evidence as a sign of strength.
This philosophy also guides her approach to mentoring young professionals. Priyal encourages people to develop independent thinking rather than simply follow instructions. She motivates emerging analysts to ask thoughtful questions, exercise sound judgment, and become comfortable making decisions in uncertain situations.
While technical expertise is important, she considers it only one part of effective leadership. In her view, leaders need adaptability, self-awareness, and strong communication skills. As artificial intelligence continues to reshape how information is analyzed and decisions are made, these qualities will become even more valuable, she believes.
Building a Lasting Legacy
Looking ahead, Priyal expects leadership to continue evolving as technology, sustainability, and changing investor expectations reshape the industry with human judgment becoming a key differentiator. The ability to build strong relationships, interpret information with context, ask thoughtful questions, and make sound decisions in complex situations will become increasingly important.
She also observes that investors are placing greater emphasis on transparency, strong corporate governance, and long-term value creation. In her view, the most effective leaders will be those who can combine financial performance with strategic vision while earning the trust of a broad range of stakeholders.
With years of experience behind her and her most impactful work still ahead, Priyal hopes to be remembered for more than her investment performance. As a parent, she has come to value the lasting impact of investing in people. She believes a meaningful legacy is defined not only by personal achievements but also by the positive influence one has on others. If the professionals she has mentored go on to make sound decisions, lead with integrity, and inspire future generations of leaders, she will consider that to be her greatest and most enduring contribution.
