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Ahmar Ahmad, Finance Expert in New York, NY, United States
Ahmar Ahmad

Finance Expert in New York, NY, United States

Member since October 30, 2019
Ahmar, a Wharton and Columbia Business School graduate, is a hedge fund investor with experience across financial services, healthcare, and business services. Trained as a management consultant, he informs his investing with a detailed operational understanding of the business. Freelancing enables him to leverage his quantitative aptitude and modeling skills to help clients improve growth, enhance margins, and better allocate capital.
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Career Highlights

Education

Case studies

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Industry Expertise

  • Energy, Utilities & Waste
  • Finance
  • Credit Cards & Transaction Processing
  • Healthcare Services
  • Real Estate
  • Retail
  • Telecommunications
  • Financial Modeling

Other Expertise

Employment

  • Senior Analyst

    2018 - 2019
    Blue Mountain Capital
    • Helped launch a market-neutral long/short portfolio focused on global financial institutions and business services companies.
    • Evaluated the $7 billion leveraged buyout of a publicly-traded data services company with responsibilities that included building a bottoms-up operating model, creating investment committee presentations, directing operational and financial due diligence, and; authoring the investment memorandum.
    • Analyzed a dividend swap strategy for a global volatility fund to determine whether bottoms-up analysis led to the mispricing of dividend probabilities in European companies.
    Focus areas: Equity Offerings, Private Equity Valuation, Private Equity, Equity Valuation, Equity Research, Equity Investment, Equity Markets, Valuation, Financial Modeling, Investing

  • Principal

    2013 - 2017
    Roystone Capital
    • Co-founded a hedge fund, which at its peak managed $3 billion of assets, with a mandate to invest across the capital structure in credit and equity instruments.
    • Invested in merger arbitrage strategies in the managed care sector including in merger announcements for CI, ANTM, AET, and HUM. Analysis included pro forma analysis of mergers pre and post deal and probability of passing anti-trust scrutiny.
    • Modeled the impact of healthcare reform on hospital companies, leading to a sizable investment in HCA.
    • Researched the impact of immigration reform on IT service companies and invested in Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ: CTSH).
    • Led diligence in a private label credit card company to determine whether it was adequately forecasting credit losses, which led to an investment in Synchrony Financial (NYSE: SYF).
    • Led an investment in the "busted" IPO of merchant acquirer/payment processor, First Data, following weak sales results in its North America GBS Segment, leveraging numerous channel checks on its sales force and competitive position to inform the purchase.
    • Invested in the sovereign debt and GDP warrants of the Republic of Argentina due to a legal dispute with a large hedge fund. The research process included numerous meetings with central bankers, policymakers, politicians, and economists to understand the macro backdrop for the country.
    Focus areas: Latin America (LATAM), Argentina, Emerging Markets, Equity Offerings, Equity Research, Equity Markets, Equity Valuation, Equity, Valuation, Financial Modeling, Credit Investing, Distressed/Special Situations, Investing

  • Partner

    2006 - 2013
    Owl Creek Asset Management
    • Evaluated ideas as a generalist for a $3.5 billion event-driven equity/distressed debt hedge fund.
    • Served as a panelist on "The European Debt Crisis" for the American Bankruptcy Institute's 14th Annual New York City Bankruptcy Conference, providing an investment framework around sovereign debt.
    • Performed a market survey of financial planners to assess the true liability of Cigna's variable annuity death benefit reserves, leading to significant investment in its stock.
    • Bought financial stocks during the financial crisis after the US government unveiled its Troubled Asset Relief Program including BAC, C, JPM, and FITB.
    • Invested in UK bank perpetual preferred stock following the injection of capital by the government, researching preferred holders right's through review of prospectuses and determining the appropriate investment strategy by building models to value securities through distressed exchanges.
    • Researched the derivatives exchange CME Group, following the failure of MF Global, leading an investment in the equity due to a misunderstanding of losses to a clearing institution.
    • Invested in Lehman Brothers Holdings, Inc. following its bankruptcy and Chapter 11 reorganization, valuing the estate and projected distributions among the various subsidiaries through the flow of equity and intercompany loans.
    • Led investments in Irish financial institutions, including Anglo Irish senior bonds, Bank of Ireland lower tier 2 debt, and Irish Covered Bonds, creating detailed models that determined the banks' capitalization needs, security holder rights, and individual security risk-reward.
    • Built a financial model for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac following their conservatorship, leading to out of the money option investments in the GSE preferred stock.
    Focus areas: Bankruptcy & Insolvency, Distressed Assets, Distressed/Special Situations, Valuation Modeling, Valuation, Financial Modeling, Credit Investing, Value Investing, Investing

  • Associate

    1999 - 2005
    Stern Stewart
    • Served as a corporate finance consultant implementing the "Economic Value Added" (EVA) framework within Fortune 500 companies.
    • Coordinated a global research project examining the impact of revenue growth on value creation, later published as the Harvard Business Review article, "Champions of Profitable Growth."
    • Built new store investment model for Koninklijke Ahold N.V., adopted by the CFO for evaluation of all future capital expenditures and real estate transactions.
    • Created an outsourcing operating model for IBM, which was named as a "Worldwide Best Practice."
    • Designed a customized economic profit framework for Williams Companies.
    Focus areas: Economic Value Added, Valuation, Market Research, Financial Modeling, Strategy, Three-statement Modeling, Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A)

Education

  • Master of Business Administration (MBA) Degree in Value Investing
    2005 - 2007
    Columbia Business School - New York, NY
  • Bachelor's Degree in Finance and Accounting
    1995 - 1999
    University of Pennsylvania - Philadelphia, PA

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