Mr. Omer Ahmed is President of Abaris Capital Advisors, a Chicago-based investment advisory firm specializing in alternative asset management portfolio strategies, including but not limited to commodities, direct investments in: energy, health care, infrastructure, medical devises, real estate, and transformational technology. Clients advised include sovereign wealth funds, global financial institutions, international private banking operations and ultra-high net worth family offices.
As an investment professional, Mr. Ahmed has advised on, and allocated capital, to a range of traditional and alternative asset portfolios/investments totaling more than $4 billion. Prior to Abaris, Mr. Ahmed served as Senior Managing Director at Bear Stearns responsible for the Middle East, the Indian Sub-Continent and Africa. Before Bear Stearns, Mr. Ahmed was President of Crescent Capital Management, a position he held for a decade. He also held senior management positions at Credit Agricole Indosuez Bank, Merrill Lynch International and ABN AMRO, all in managing teams and professionals in the fields of wealth management, real estate, traditional equity/fixed income, energy, and alternative investments.
In addition, Mr. Ahmed has been an Executive member of the FourStar Committee for ALSAC St. Jude Children’s Hospital Charity. He and his family have a long tradition of supporting educational and medical empowerment in the Middle East and the Indian Sub-continent. Mr. Ahmed is a board member of the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) designation licensing program and has been a member of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and within the Executive Committee of the Center for Financial Services at DePaul University. Mr. Ahmed has also been a Senior Member of the Advisory Board at Vision Brazil Investments (a real assets investment management firm, specializing in agribusinesses) and a Senior Principal and Chair of the Advisory Committee of Lifeline Holdings (a distressed real estate firm). He oversaw Abaris’ interests at 300 North Global Macro Fund, as the President; and Abaris’s interest in EverStream Energy, a renewable energy investment management and development firm.
Mr. Ahmed is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis and has also completed a post-graduate program on investment decisions and behavioral finance at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.