Kara Murphy was a 29-year-old equity analyst for Morgan Stanley working in 2 World Trade Center on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001. For the 25 years that have followed, the now-chief investment officer of Kestra Investment Management has revisited that day through a piece of writing she began on the night of the attack.
“I had some people who I couldn’t get in touch with on the phone, and I wanted to let them know I was okay and give a sense of what had happened,” she said of that night, when she tried to recall the details of the day in her brother’s apartment even as the dust was still settling in lower Manhattan.
That writing has morphed over the years, with Murphy adding details from her own memory and from the memories of others who were with her. She didn’t share it publicly until the 10-year anniversary of 9/11, and this year, on the eve of the 25th anniversary, she used writing to reflect on how the event has shaped her life and decisions over the years.
“A quarter century is long enough to know that my survival wasn’t earned or even deserved,” Murphy wrote in the post on LinkedIn. “A second chance handed out at random risks being squandered, and I remain desperate to honor that gift.”
Murphy said in an interview that, despite how harrowing that day was, she is aware that she was one of the lucky ones. In an office on a floor just below where the second plane hit, Murphy and colleagues were initially confused and unsure of whether to leave the building.
“I was considering refilling my coffee when I noticed reams of paper raining past the window, obscuring the usually serene view of the water,” Murphy wrote of the first moments of the attack.
Eventually, the emergency alarms went off, and she and her colleagues scrambled to the stairwell, making their way down the flights of steps in a controlled panic. The walk continued into the street and through Lower Manhattan even as the towers collapsed and she and her traveling companions were covered in dust.
Beyond Murphy’s own trauma, she was managing fears for her cousin, who was working in the Cantor Fitzgerald offices that day in the first tower. Murphy spent the days after the attack searching with family members for some sign that he had survived, only for that quest to turn to mourning.
“His loss still very much reverberates through the family,” she said. “It’s hard for me not to compare myself to him. He was super successful, older than me—I looked up to him … that loss is still around.”
This anniversary will likely prompt many in the financial services sector to recall that day and its impact. Firms including Morgan Stanley, Cantor Fitzgerald, Bank of America, Marsh & McLennan and Aon had offices in the buildings, along with many other Wall Street firms linked to the work being done there. In a speech given by Federal Reserve Board Vice Chairman Roger Ferguson about seven months after the attack, he noted the financial system’s versatility in the days and weeks that followed.
“Despite the shock, long-term devastation and disruption of public infrastructure and commercial activities in the world’s financial center, the U.S. financial system largely remained open throughout the day and thereafter,” Ferguson wrote.
Murphy herself went back to work at Morgan Stanley’s Midtown office on the Monday after the attacks. But the event had changed her. Her first instinct, she said, was to volunteer to try to give back. Eventually, that led her to found an organization called Welcome Home that supports resettled refugees in New Jersey.
Careerwise, she found success in finance, climbing the ranks to become chief investment officer for AIG Funds, overseeing more than $50 billion in assets. As she explored work closer to financial advice, however, her desire to give back drew her to working with advisors and their clients to secure better financial futures.
That led her to a job as CIO of Goldman Sachs Personal Financial Management following its acquisition of United Capital, where she led the investment-related integration efforts between the two firms. In 2021, she moved to Kestra as part of the senior leadership team for its growing network of advisors.
“I like that human connection of helping the client retire or send their kids to college,” she said. “That is meaningful to me…. Meeting clients and helping guide them through turbulent times.”
Murphy recalled the recent market turmoil over tariffs in early 2025 as an example of Kestra issuing commentary and research urging against panicking. She remembers giving a presentation full of charts and data, but what stuck with the audience was a story about her grandfather pulling his money out of the markets after the financial crash, never to return.
“Being able to share that personal example is what resonated with people,” she said.
Today, Murphy frequently writes for clients and investors on the financial markets and speaks at conferences and on news outlets such as CNBC and Bloomberg. This week, Murphy was in New York, in part, to meet with Kestra’s financial advisors and share her thoughts on the markets and ideas to relay to clients.
This Friday, however, she will be remembering 9/11 and those who lost their lives with family, she said. That will include visiting the 9/11 memorial site with her husband and children, who are flying out from their home in Austin, Texas, and then attending mass at the church her cousin attended on the Upper East Side.
“It was important for me to not just have something for myself, but for my kids to get their arms around what happened,” she said. “I’m sure it will be tiring, but I’m looking forward to being there.”